Hyperliquid Suffers $4.9M Loss in Alleged POPCAT Manipulation – 13/11/2025

Decentralized derivatives platform Hyperliquid reportedly incurred a $4.9 million loss Wednesday following an alleged manipulation of the POPCAT token, according to blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain.

The attack began with a $3 million USDC withdrawal from OKX, split across 19 wallets to create a massive leveraged long position in POPCAT valued between $20 million and $30 million. A $20 million buy order near $0.21 drew liquidity and pushed the token price higher. When the attacker abruptly removed the orders, POPCAT prices collapsed, triggering cascading liquidations—including the attacker’s own $3 million collateral, which was wiped out within seconds.

Hyperliquid’s community-owned liquidity vault (HLP), designed to absorb losses from liquidations, covered the remaining shortfall, resulting in the reported $4.9 million bad debt and hitting the decentralized exchange’s perpetual market operations.

A market participant described the incident as “peak degen warfare.”
“Someone burned $3M to nuke liquidity and pull HLP into a $5M loss. Classic manufactured demand illusion followed by a flush. The attacker exploited thin depth and automated LP absorption,” they wrote on X.

CoinDesk reached out to Hyperliquid for comment via X.