Key Insights:
- Crypto News: A trader swapped $50M USDT for just $36K AAVE due to extreme slippage.
- 13 wallets linked to Garrett Jin suggest he may be the “mystery whale.”
- Lost funds went to liquidity providers, arbitrage bots, and protocol fees.
The crypto market remains shocked after a massive DeFi trade triggered an enormous loss due to slippage. The trade, involving AAVE-related tokens, resulted in a swap of over $50 million in assets for just under $36,000.
This crypto news has sparked speculation about the involvement of Bitcoin OG Garrett Jin, as on-chain analysts trace the mysterious wallets behind the transaction.
Crypto News: $50M AAVE Trade Triggers Massive Slippage
The latest crypto news surrounds a massive DeFi transaction involving AAVE. This development comes after a trader attempted to swap roughly $50.4 million in USDT for AAVE tokens on the Ethereum network.
However, the trade resulted in a huge loss due to alleged slippage. This leaves the user with only around $36,000 worth of AAVE tokens.
In an X post, Aave founder Stani Kulechov noted that the trader executed the transaction through the Aave interface. He added that it relies on routing infrastructure, such as CoW Swap, to process large swaps.
Due to the unusually large size of the order, the platform displayed clear warnings about extraordinary slippage. It also required the user to manually confirm the risks before proceeding. Despite these warnings, the trader approved the transaction on a mobile device and completed the swap.
Reportedly, the transaction process resulted in other participants obtaining most of the available funds. The data shows that the trader received AAVE worth $36,000, while CoW Swap fees reached approximately $6,19,000. MEV bots took more than $9.9 million, while the block builder who processed the transaction received more than $34 million.
In response to the crypto news, Kulechov confirmed that the team plans to refund around $6,00,000 in fees generated from the transaction. The team is trying to contact the wallet owner.
Garrett Jin Might Be Behind the $50M AAVE Slippage Trade
Following the massive crypto swap, reports hint at the event’s possible connection with trader Garrett Jin. According to Lookonchain data, 13 wallets appear to be connected to him.
These wallets received USDC or USDT from Binance on February 16 and 20. They became active again today and moved funds to two new wallets. One of the wallets even used the same Binance deposit address as Garrett Jin.
The timing of this crypto news aligns with his previous large sales of 261,024 ETH ($543M) and 11,318 BTC ($761M) on February 15 and 20, coinciding with the stablecoin withdrawals from Binance. This strongly suggests that Garrett Jin might be the “mystery whale” behind this massive slippage trade.
Crypto News Reveals What Happened to the $50M in the AAVE Trade
After the crypto news, many are wondering, ‘What happened to the $50 million USDT?’ In an X post, expert Nicki Sanders stated that it didn’t disappear. Instead, it went to liquidity providers, arbitrage traders, and protocol fees.
The trader attempted to purchase 50 million dollars worth of AAVE through one DeFi exchange. However, the liquidity pool did not meet his requirements. The first AAVE tokens were acquired at market value, but subsequent purchases occurred at significantly increased prices. That resulted in substantial slippage.
USDT went to liquidity providers, while bots sold AAVE at higher than market prices to make profits, and the pool collected its earnings.
Analysts explain that DeFi systems execute user trades exactly as users request. This creates high costs for users who make major errors. That’s because DeFi lacks the ability to execute complex trades through OTC desks and automated trading systems, which exist in conventional finance.