Hyperliquid Accused of Manipulation While HYPE Records New ATH

• Hyperliquid faces accusations of manipulation by whales
• HYPE Token Reaches All-Time High Above $51
• Volume surpasses Robinhood and challenges centralized exchanges

Hyperliquid, a decentralized exchange, is under intense scrutiny following allegations of market manipulation involving large wallets. The accusations emerged on the same day that HYPE, the platform's native token, reached an all-time high.

According to analytics firm SpotOnChain, a group of whales drove the price of the XPL pair up 200%, reaching $1,80, before quickly correcting. The maneuver reportedly generated millions among traders. The main perpetrator reportedly made over $15 million in profits, while three other traders accumulated gains between $9 million and $13 million. Investors on the other side recorded losses exceeding $6,5 million.

🚨💥 Whale manipulation on #Hyperliquid sent $XPL soaring 200% to $1.80 in minutes earlier today, marking one of the wildest short squeezes and wealth redistributions we've seen!

Here's the breakdown:

Manipulators' profits:
🔹 0xb9c (main orchestrator): +$15.11M
🔹 0xe41:… pic.twitter.com/KiWDybLJj9

— Spot On Chain (@spotonchain) August 27, 2025

The Lookonchain platform highlighted that the movement forced traders in short positions to add liquidity to avoid liquidations. One address injected $44 million in USDC, while another transferred $29 million in USDC to support its position.

Despite the controversy, the HYPE token reached $51,05 on August 27, surpassing its previous record high of $48,55 in July. Although it has since fallen back to around $48,8, the asset still posted daily gains of 7,5% over the period.

Hyperliquid's growth isn't limited to its token performance. Data from DefiLlama shows that in July, the exchange processed $330,8 billion in combined volume between spot and perpetual contracts, surpassing Robinhood's $237,8 billion across all asset classes. This result represented a 39% advantage and marked the third consecutive month in which the DEX surpassed the North American giant.

According to Carlos, a researcher at Blockworks, Hyperliquid generated nearly $100 million in revenue in the last 30 days, outperforming several Layer 1 networks. He also noted that spot volumes for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana rivaled or even surpassed those of traditional exchanges like Bitstamp and Kraken, while the platform's derivatives now represent nearly 14% of Binance's futures market, up from a 2% share last year.

1/ Either HYPE is still cheap, or most L1s are overvalued.

Hyperliquid is the leading chain by revenue, generating $28M weekly over the last two weeks and nearly $100M in the past 30 days.

Furthermore, the data shows Hyperliquid is capturing significant market share from CEXs. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/6CDVVwYTA3

— Carlos 🟪 (@0xcarlosg) August 26, 2025

"Hyperliquid will continue to take market share from CEXs," Carlos said, reinforcing the view that the decentralized platform is consolidating its position against centralized exchanges.