Crypto Trader Accused of Meme Coin Manipulation as Profits Soar and Crash
Crypto trader and influencer James Wynn is under fire following accusations of orchestrating pump-and-dump schemes involving meme coins, leveraging his online following to profit from early token investments.
The controversy erupted after Wynn publicly warned of scam tokens being launched under his name. However, blockchain sleuth ZachXBT countered Wynn’s claims, alleging that the trader has long engaged in similar schemes—buying large token allocations early, promoting them, and exiting at peak prices, leaving retail investors with losses.
One of the tokens at the centre of the allegations is Babypepe, where Wynn allegedly purchased 2% of the total supply and later sold his holdings for a $68,000 profit. Other meme coins linked to Wynn include WLON and WYNN — the latter has reportedly plummeted more than 99% from its launch price.
Wynn is also tied to the controversial Solana-based token MOONPIG, where he reportedly acquired around 3% of the supply. After heavily promoting the project, MOONPIG’s price spiked to $0.12 before collapsing to $0.035 within a week—an event that some community members attribute to Wynn’s sell-off.
Wynn has denied any involvement in token manipulation, insisting that he was merely an early investor and had no hand in the development or pricing dynamics. He claims to support only two meme coins — PEPE and MOONPIG — and states he invested over $1 million into MOONPIG without profiting from it.
Wynn first gained prominence after investing in PEPE when its market cap was just $4.2 million. The token has since surged more than 1,300x and is now valued at over $5.7 billion.
Following that success, Wynn shifted toward high-leverage trading, primarily on the decentralised perpetuals exchange Hyperliquid. Data from Lookonchain reveals he made $46.5 million in under two months through 39 trades — 17 of which were profitable.
Between May 5 and May 23, his portfolio skyrocketed from $5.7 million to $87 million in profits before plunging to $1.91 million, signalling a $55 million drawdown in under a week. He currently holds a $200 million long position on Bitcoin, with an unrealised loss of around $800,000, according to Hyperdash.
