The POPCAT manipulation brought about the Hyperliquid HLP to soak up $5M in losses.
Hyperliquid’s token worth at present trades beneath key EMAs amid bearish momentum.
HYPE’s retail demand has dropped, and futures Open Curiosity has fallen to $1.56B.
Hyperliquid worth has come beneath intense strain 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 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 sequence of manipulative trades throughout the POPCAT token market, utilizing a number of wallets to create a man-made purchase wall.
In accordance with on-chain analysts, the dealer deployed roughly $3 million in USDC from the OKX alternate, 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 worth plunged sharply, inflicting mass liquidations.
Hyperliquid’s market-making system, Hyperliquid Supplier (HLP), was pressured to soak up the ensuing positions as a result of skinny liquidity available in the market.
In complete, HLP incurred losses of roughly $4.9–$5 million.
The remaining lengthy positions had 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 stop additional monetary injury.
The assault highlighted how coordinated actions of huge capital by 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 similar to TST, ZEREBRO, JELLYJELLY, and HIFI, though Hyperliquid emphasised that deposits and withdrawals had 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 instructed that such assaults could not at all times be profit-driven, however somewhat aimed toward undermining the status of decentralised platforms.
On-chain forensic analyses have scrutinised hyperlinks between wallets used within the manipulation and entities similar to BTX Capital, although allegations stay unproven.
Hyperliquid’s response, together with a short lived pause on its Arbitrum bridge, helped mitigate additional destabilisation.
Nonetheless, 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 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 danger urge for food amongst merchants.
HYPE worth response to the assault
Regardless of the loss, Hyperliquid’s HYPE token confirmed relative resilience within the quick aftermath.
HYPE worth 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) slightly below $39 and failing to surpass the 50 and 100-day EMAs round $43.
Momentum indicators, together with the MACD and RSI, counsel persistent promoting strain, and analysts warn {that a} decisive break beneath the $35 help stage might speed up a decline towards the $30 mark.
