A crypto influencer recently staged a $6 million short liquidation on Bitcoin (BTC) to gain followers and attention, but the stunt was quickly debunked by social media fact-checkers.
Crypto trader Laanie shared fabricated evidence of a leveraged wipeout, generating hundreds of thousands of views before deleting the claim a few hours later. The individual then hosted a social audio space on X to discuss the nonexistent trade, drawing over a thousand attendees during a day of strong upward movement in crypto markets.
The deception coincided with a sharp rally for Bitcoin, which climbed from $64,000 to $75,000 in under 24 hours. The 17% intraday increase made the short-liquidation claim appear plausible to many observers, given the high leverage offerings available on derivatives platforms like Bybit.
However, users on X attached a proposed Community Note challenging the $6 million loss. Skeptics pointed out that the trading display shared by Laanie featured Bybit's Demo mode enabled—a simulated trading view indicated by cropped webpage tabs and virtual balances. Bybit's Demo Trading feature automatically provides users with a simulated account and virtual assets, allowing them to generate the math and screenshots of a leveraged trade without risking real capital.
Following the exposure, replies to Laanie's follow-up posts criticized the trader, with skeptics labeling the stunt as roleplay and pointing out the use of a demo account.
The broader market rally was driven by multiple factors, including a multi-billion-dollar expansion of US Treasury buybacks known as 'QE Lite' and positive commentary from a cryptocurrency meeting in Washington, D.C., featuring Donald Trump.
