The POPCAT manipulation brought about the Hyperliquid HLP to soak up $5M in losses.
Hyperliquid’s token value presently trades beneath key EMAs amid bearish momentum.
HYPE’s retail demand has dropped, and futures Open Curiosity has fallen to $1.56B.
Hyperliquid value has come beneath intense stress following a complicated 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 threat administration whereas elevating issues about retail demand and total 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.
In keeping with 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 worth of POPCAT to over $0.21.
As soon as the purchase wall was eliminated, the POPCAT value plunged sharply, inflicting mass liquidations.
Hyperliquid’s market-making system, Hyperliquid Supplier (HLP), was pressured to soak up the ensuing positions resulting from skinny liquidity available in the market.
In complete, HLP incurred losses of roughly $4.9–$5 million.
The remaining lengthy positions have been handed to the Hyperliquidity Supplier (HLP) to liquidate.
HLP seems to have misplaced $4.95M closing out the positions. pic.twitter.com/Qfq9jcy4Mz
— Arkham (@arkham) November 12, 2025
Throughout the crash, the worth of POPCAT fell from $0.21 to $0.13, leaving Hyperliquid to manually shut positions to forestall additional monetary harm.
The assault highlighted how coordinated actions of enormous capital by way of a number of wallets can destabilise decentralised platforms.
Taking a look at how the assault unfolded, there are connections to prior manipulative behaviour noticed on tokens akin to TST, ZEREBRO, JELLYJELLY, and HIFI, though Hyperliquid emphasised that deposits and withdrawals have been in the end 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.
Whereas 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 urged that such assaults might not at all times be profit-driven, however reasonably geared toward undermining the status of decentralised platforms.
On-chain forensic analyses have scrutinised hyperlinks between wallets used within the manipulation and entities akin to BTX Capital, although allegations stay unproven.
Hyperliquid’s response, together with a brief pause on its Arbitrum bridge, helped mitigate additional destabilisation.
Nonetheless, the incident is prone to weigh on investor sentiment, particularly as retail demand for HYPE has remained low following a major discount in futures Open Curiosity over the previous month.
Futures Open Curiosity for HYPE has additionally contracted from $2.08 billion on the finish of October to $1.56 billion, signalling declining threat urge for food amongst merchants.
HYPE value response to the assault
Regardless of the loss, Hyperliquid’s HYPE token confirmed relative resilience within the rapid aftermath.
HYPE value rose modestly from $37.77 to $39.39 following the decision of the assault, indicating that broader retail confidence within the token remained intact.
Nonetheless, 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 beneath its 200-day Exponential Shifting Common (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 stress, and analysts warn {that a} decisive break beneath the $35 assist degree might speed up a decline towards the $30 mark.
