Ukrainian trader Max Hamaha won the final of the first-ever live crypto trading championship, the International Crypto Trading Cup (ICTC 2025), organized by the WhiteBIT crypto exchange. This is stated in a press release for Incrypted.

The tournament was held live on May 9-10 and brought together eight leading crypto traders worldwide on one stage for a real-time competition. Trading for six hours each day — twelve hours in total — they made 269 trades, demonstrating their mastery of advanced trading strategies, risk management, and decision-making under pressure, the event team emphasized.

In addition to the main stage traders, 33 teams took part in ICTC 2025, the largest of which had 369 and 298 participants, as well as about 3,000 individual traders from around the world, the statement said.

Hamaha made a comeback from the last place, thanks to a decisive long position in Ethereum, which brought him a profit of 7488.84 USDT and the first place. In total, he performed 47 trades, which was the second highest figure in the competition.

“Trading live on stage is an incredibly exciting experience, much more intense and interesting than trading at home. I had to adapt my usual approach to the tournament rules, but I focused on active day trading with high leverage. I felt confident throughout, although the final minutes were tense as others went all-in. WhiteBIT sets a new trend — trading tournaments can become as popular as e-sports. I believe that in a few years, crypto trading tournaments will be able to compete with Dota 2,” Hamaha shared his impressions.

He was joined on the podium by Merlijn “The Trader” from the Netherlands (second place) with a result of 6745.96 USDT and another Ukrainian, Yevhen Loza (EXCAVO), who took third place with a profit of 4098.90 USDT.

Meanwhile, Malik Roth Klindt Jensen (Coinvo) made the biggest profit of the tournament, with a sharp gain of 12,249 USDT on ETH-PERP. The largest loss, also on the ETH-PERP pair, was 10,725 USDT, which emphasizes the high risk of trading.

According to the event’s representatives, the competition was broadcast live, and traders openly demonstrated their screens, strategies, and thinking in real time. Over the course of two days, they used a dedicated WhiteBIT asset of 50,000 USDTB. The tournament had not only a competitive but also a powerful educational effect, thanks to analysts’ comments and the disclosure of trading approaches.

One of the ICTC hosts and technical analyst Mark Principato emphasized the educational value of this format:

“The tournament showcased a variety of trading styles, including standout performances such as Mauro Caimi’s aggressive all-or-nothing strategy that dominated the first day and Merlin and Excavo’s high-risk overnight positions that paid off big on the second day.”

He added:

“The lessons learned from this unique event are invaluable for both beginners and experienced traders. Risking your reputation and revealing your secrets to the world is not something most pros would dare to do. So watch carefully and take notes. From high probability patterns to mean-reversion tactics, you will gain practical knowledge that you can implement in your trading right away.”

A special moment for the Ukrainian audience was the display of Max Hamaha’s name on LED screens during the El Clasico match, a football match between Barcelona and Real Madrid watched by millions of viewers globally. This is the first time that the winner of a crypto trading tournament has been honored at this level.

“We are breaking new ground with this tournament. It’s not just about trading — it’s about building a community, sharing knowledge, and accelerating the global adoption of blockchain. We are building the infrastructure of the future. ICTC 2025 is the first step in understanding what works, what our traders and audience want, and where to go from here. Our goal is to make this tournament regular, bigger and better every year,” said Vladimir Nosov, founder of WhiteBIT Group.

The organizers have already opened registration for ICTC 2026, inviting traders from all over the world to try their hand at the new format of financial competitions.

Recordings of the broadcasts are available on the WhiteBIT YouTube channel.