The outbreak of war between the US and Iran triggers a liquidation wave in the crypto world, with Brother MaJi's 25x leverage being liquidated again.

On February 28, Israel launched a large-scale military operation codenamed “Operation Epic Fury” with U.S. support, targeting senior Iranian military officials, nuclear facilities, and command centers. Iran responded with missile strikes against Israeli territory and U.S. military bases in the Middle East. Taiwanese-American artist Huang Licheng (Brother Mag) had his ETH 25x long position partially liquidated, reducing his wallet balance to about $9,000.

US-Iran Conflict Sparks Crypto Market: Three Major Coins Drop Simultaneously

The geopolitical impact on the cryptocurrency market on February 28 was broad and rapid. According to on-chain data from Lookonchain, the main crypto assets that day experienced the following declines:

Bitcoin (BTC): Dropped over 4.2% in a single day, falling below $64,000, with a low of $63,200, then rebounded to around $66,500.

Ethereum (ETH): Fell more than 4.6%, breaking below $1,844, then recovered.

Solana (SOL): Declined 5.6%, hitting a low of $77.63, then rebounded.

Lookonchain analysis indicates that Ethereum’s sharp volatility was the core driver behind the liquidation of large long positions. In high-leverage environments, even a price movement within 5% can trigger forced liquidation of positions with over 20x leverage.

Brother Mag’s Holdings and Liquidation Process

(Source: Hyperbot)

According to on-chain data, Huang Licheng injected $245,000 (about NT$7.69 million) into his account on February 24, holding a 25x long position on Ethereum. However, less than four days later, on February 28, the Middle East conflict news triggered a market plunge, and his account was forcibly liquidated due to insufficient margin, reducing his balance to $13,580 (about NT$426,000).

(Source: Hyperbot)

Entering March, as the market continued to pressure, Huang Licheng’s remaining ETH long positions were partially reduced again. According to the latest monitoring by Onchain Lens on March 2, his wallet balance further declined to about $9,000.

From an initial $245,000 on February 24 to about $9,000 on March 2—less than eight days, over 96% of his funds vanished.

Market Risks of High-Leverage Investing: Lessons Learned

This incident highlights the systemic risks of holding highly leveraged crypto positions during periods of high geopolitical uncertainty. The crypto market reacts extremely quickly to black swan events, often leaving little time for leveraged investors to respond.

Huang Licheng is not the only victim of this liquidation wave. Geopolitical conflicts, macro interest rate expectations, or major technical support breaks can trigger chain reactions of liquidations in a short time, putting high-leverage traders at near-inevitable risk of forced exit. This case has also sparked widespread discussion in the community about risk management mechanisms in crypto markets. Some observers point out that in uncertain market conditions, timing high-leverage entries is especially critical.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Who is “Brother Mag” Huang Licheng? Why is he widely followed in the crypto community?
Huang Licheng is a Taiwanese-American artist, member of L.A. Boyz, and has long been a well-known figure in Taiwan’s entertainment industry. In recent years, he has actively invested in cryptocurrencies and NFTs, becoming a prominent “celebrity investor” in the Chinese-speaking crypto community. His on-chain activities are frequently monitored and publicly reported by various tracking platforms.

Q: How did the 25x leveraged ETH long position trigger liquidation?
With 25x leverage, a 1% drop in asset price results in a 25% loss on the position. If Ethereum drops about 4%, the margin loss could exceed 100%, triggering forced liquidation by the exchange. Since ETH fell over 4.6% in one day, for a 25x long position, liquidation was almost unavoidable.

Q: How can crypto investors reduce the risk of liquidation from geopolitical black swan events?
Key risk management strategies include: significantly lowering leverage (recommended below 5x), setting reasonable stop-loss levels before entering trades, monitoring major geopolitical risk calendars globally, and avoiding increasing positions during high uncertainty periods. Institutional investors often hedge high-leverage positions to mitigate systemic risks caused by sharp asset volatility.