Trader Makes $1 Million from Unusual Market Maker Activity on Binance

Surprising Profits from Trading

A trader claims to have made approximately $1 million on New Year's Day by exploiting the "unusual" behavior of a suspicious market maker account on Binance. Investor Vida mentioned on platform X that the abnormal trading activity was linked to the low liquidity token BROCCOLI714 on the BNB Chain. This memecoin experienced a sharp price surge, followed by a rapid reversal on Thursday morning in Asia, driven by unusually large buy orders on Binance's order book.

“I had the impression that it could either be a hacked account or a market-making programming error, because no large investor would be naïve enough to engage in charity in such a manner,” Vida stated. The trader relied on automated alerts to identify quick price movements and discrepancies between spot and perpetual markets. He opted for a long-term strategy during the price increase, then fought back with a short position once the pressure dissipated and liquidity in the futures markets normalized.

Social media has speculated about potential hacking, a theory Binance has denied. A spokesperson for Binance stated that, based on initial checks of the system, risk controls and security mechanisms are functioning as expected. Currently, there is no evidence of a security breach on the platform or hacker activity, and Binance has not received reports of compromised accounts through customer support channels.

Vida reiterated that the trading model did not seem normal. “I don’t know what’s happening; how could anyone use tens of millions of USDT to conduct charity with such price increases?” the investor questioned after Binance denied the hacking rumors.

By the end of New Year's Day, the BNB Chain recorded over 2.6 million daily active users, ranking second in active addresses and transaction volume for the year.