• On account of the POPCAT operation, Hyperliquid HLP absorbed $5 million in losses.
• HyperLiquid token value is at present buying and selling under the important thing EMA amidst bearish momentum.
• Retail demand for HYPE declined, with futures open curiosity falling to $1.56 billion.

Hyperliquidity costs are underneath intense strain following a complicated POPCAT assault that precipitated decentralized derivatives platforms to undergo hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in losses.

The POPCAT hack concentrating on Hyperliquid’s liquidity supplier system uncovered vulnerabilities in Hyperliquid’s threat administration and raised considerations about retail demand for the HYPE token and total market sentiment.

POPCAT assault causes $5 million in HLP losses

The POPCAT assault occurred on November 12, when a dealer used a number of wallets to create a synthetic shopping for wall and execute a collection of manipulative transactions throughout the POPCAT token market.

In response to on-chain analysts, the dealer deployed roughly $3 million in USDC from the OKX change and distributed it throughout 19 separate addresses.

These wallets then opened practically $30 million in leveraged lengthy positions, pushing the worth of POPCAT above $0.21.

As soon as the shopping for wall was eliminated, POPCAT’s value plummeted and mass liquidations occurred.

Hyper Liquid’s market making system, Hyper Liquid Supplier (HLP), was compelled to soak up the ensuing positions as market liquidity was skinny.

In whole, HLP suffered losses of roughly $4.9 million to $5 million.

The remaining lengthy positions had been handed to Extremely Liquidity Supplier (HLP) for liquidation.

HLP seems to have closed out its place and misplaced $4.95 million. pic.twitter.com/Qfq9jcy4Mz

— Arkham (@arkham) November 12, 2025

Throughout the crash, POPCAT’s value fell from $0.21 to $0.13, forcing HyperLiquid to manually shut its place to stop additional monetary harm.

This assault highlighted how the coordinated motion of enormous quantities of capital by way of a number of wallets can destabilize decentralized platforms.

Whereas the event of the assault seems to be associated to earlier manipulative habits noticed on tokens equivalent to TST, ZEREBRO, JELLYJELLY, and HIFI, HyperLiquid emphasised that deposits and withdrawals had been finally restored and regular buying and selling resumed.

Hyperliquid and its impression on the DeFi market

Specifically, the POPCAT assault highlights the persevering with dangers to decentralized exchanges that deal with leveraged tokens.

Whereas HLP was profitable in absorbing losses and defending liquidity suppliers, this occasion illustrates 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 essentially be aimed toward revenue, however slightly to wreck the popularity of decentralized platforms.

On-chain forensic evaluation has scrutinized the connection between the wallets used within the operation and entities equivalent to BTX Capital, however the allegations stay unproven.

Hyperliquid’s response, which included suspending the Arbitrum bridge, helped mitigate additional instability.

Nevertheless, the incident is prone to weigh on investor sentiment as retail demand for HYPE stays low, particularly after a major decline in futures open curiosity final month.

HYPE futures open curiosity has additionally shrunk to $1.56 billion from $2.08 billion on the finish of October, indicating a decline in threat urge for food amongst merchants.

Hype value response to assault

Regardless of the losses, Hyperliquid’s HYPE token confirmed relative resilience within the rapid aftermath.

Following the decision of the assault, the worth of HYPE rose barely from $37.77 to $39.39, indicating that widespread retail confidence within the token stays intact.

Nevertheless, the token has since returned to round $38.09 on the time of writing, suggesting a cautious long-term outlook.

Technical indicators paint a bearish image, with HYPE falling under the 200-day exponential transferring common (EMA) and just under $39, failing to interrupt above the 50-day and 100-day EMAs close to $43.

Momentum indicators equivalent to MACD and RSI level to persistent promoting strain, with analysts warning {that a} decisive break under the $35 help stage may speed up the decline in direction of the $30 mark.