I strongly suspect it's closer to the latter; CNBC says they had to sell rapidly to meet margin requirements and it couldn't be confirmed if they actually succeeded. Suggests there was a lot more than $250m in collateral on the line.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/30/leopold-aschenbrenners-hedge...

Nah, if they reinvested realized profit they can still be in the green overall