- The POPCAT manipulation prompted the Hyperliquid HLP to soak up $5M in losses.
- Hyperliquid’s token price at present trades under key EMAs amid bearish momentum.
- HYPE’s retail demand has dropped, and futures Open Interest has fallen to $1.56B.
Hyperliquid price has come under intense pressure following a classy POPCAT assault that left the decentralised derivatives platform reeling from multi-million-dollar losses.
The POPCAT hack, which focused Hyperliquid’s liquidity supplier system, uncovered vulnerabilities in Hyperliquid’s danger administration whereas elevating issues about retail demand and general market sentiment for HYPE tokens.
POPCAT assault led to a $5M HLP loss
The POPCAT assault unfolded on November 12, when a dealer executed a collection of manipulative trades throughout the POPCAT token market, utilizing a number of wallets to create a synthetic purchase wall.
According to on-chain analysts, the dealer deployed roughly $3 million in USDC from the OKX trade, distributing it throughout 19 separate addresses.
These wallets then opened almost $30 million in leveraged lengthy positions, inflating the price of POPCAT to over $0.21.
Once the purchase wall was eliminated, the POPCAT price plunged sharply, inflicting mass liquidations.
Hyperliquid’s market-making system, Hyperliquid Provider (HLP), was compelled to soak up the ensuing positions on account of skinny liquidity in the market.
In whole, HLP incurred losses of roughly $4.9–$5 million.
The remaining lengthy positions had been handed to the Hyperliquidity Provider (HLP) to liquidate.
HLP seems to have misplaced $4.95M closing out the positions. pic.twitter.com/Qfq9jcy4Mz
— Arkham (@arkham) November 12, 2025
During the crash, the price of POPCAT fell from $0.21 to $0.13, leaving Hyperliquid to manually shut positions to stop additional monetary harm.
The assault highlighted how coordinated actions of enormous capital via a number of wallets can destabilise decentralised platforms.
Looking at how the assault unfolded, there are connections to prior manipulative behaviour noticed on tokens similar to TST, ZEREBRO, JELLYJELLY, and HIFI, though Hyperliquid emphasised that deposits and withdrawals had been finally restored and regular buying and selling resumed.
Implications for Hyperliquid and DeFi markets
Notably, the POPCAT assault underscores ongoing dangers for decentralised exchanges that deal with leveraged tokens.
While HLP efficiently absorbed the losses and guarded liquidity suppliers, the occasion demonstrates how skinny liquidity and concentrated positions can amplify the results of market manipulation.
Some commentators on Crypto Twitter have prompt that such assaults could not all the time be profit-driven, however slightly aimed toward undermining the fame of decentralised platforms.
On-chain forensic analyses have scrutinised hyperlinks between wallets used in the manipulation and entities similar to BTX Capital, although allegations stay unproven.
Hyperliquid’s response, together with a brief pause on its Arbitrum bridge, helped mitigate additional destabilisation.
However, the incident is more likely to weigh on investor sentiment, particularly as retail demand for HYPE has remained low following a big discount in futures Open Interest over the previous month.
Futures Open Interest for HYPE has additionally contracted from $2.08 billion on the finish of October to $1.56 billion, signalling declining danger urge for food amongst merchants.
HYPE price response to the assault
Despite the loss, Hyperliquid’s HYPE token confirmed relative resilience in the rapid aftermath.
HYPE price rose modestly from $37.77 to $39.39 following the decision of the assault, indicating that broader retail confidence in the token remained intact.
However, the token has since pulled again to round $38.09 at press time, hinting at a cautious long-term outlook.
Technical indicators paint a bearish image, with HYPE buying and selling under its 200-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) just under $39 and failing to surpass the 50 and 100-day EMAs round $43.
Momentum indicators, together with the MACD and RSI, recommend persistent promoting pressure, and analysts warn {that a} decisive break under the $35 assist degree may speed up a decline towards the $30 mark.
