Decentralized exchange Hyperliquid is under scrutiny following a rapid 200% price surge in its XPL pre-contracts, which analysts attribute to potential market manipulation by a cluster of large wallets. On August 27, analytics firm SpotOnChain reported that a few whales orchestrated the pump, driving XPL's price from $0.60 to $1.80 in just five minutes before it retraced sharply. The event resulted in massive short liquidations, with four primary wallets collectively profiting approximately $46 million.
The main orchestrator, wallet 0xb9c...6801e, deposited $16 million USDC and placed aggressive buy orders, clearing Hyperliquid's order book and realizing $16 million in profit within minutes. Three other wallets—0xe417..., 0x006..., and 0x894...—capitalized on the liquidations, securing profits ranging from $9 million to $13 million. Conversely, traders on the wrong side of the swing lost over $6.5 million combined.
Notably, the price spike was confined to Hyperliquid due to its single internal oracle design, which is highly sensitive to concentrated trades. Centralized exchanges like Binance and Bitget showed no corresponding price movements. Speculation linked wallet 0xb9c...6801e to Justin Sun based on a historical ETH transfer five years ago, though no direct evidence confirms his involvement.
Despite the controversy, Hyperliquid's native token, HYPE, reached a new all-time high of $51.05 on August 27, a 10% daily increase, though it later corrected to around $48.80. The platform's broader growth remains robust: in July, it processed $330.8 billion in combined spot and perpetual volume, surpassing Robinhood's $237.8 billion across all asset classes. Blockworks researcher Carlos noted Hyperliquid generated nearly $100 million in revenue over the past 30 days, with derivatives activity rising to 14% of Binance's futures market, up from 2% a year earlier.
