Market Turmoil: Hyperliquid Alleges Manipulation Amidst Whale Shorting Spree
In the wake of a seismic crypto market crash that saw Bitcoin plummet to $60,200, Ethereum to $3,050, and Solana dip below $125, with altcoins shedding up to 70% of their value, the spotlight has turned to accusations of market manipulation. Jeff Yian, the founder of Hyperliquid, has boldly claimed that major centralized exchanges (CEXs), notably Binance, are deliberately distorting liquidation data, significantly downplaying the actual scale of the sell-offs.
Yian contends that some CEXs are reporting a mere single liquidation per second in their official records, even when thousands are occurring simultaneously. This, he argues, creates a deceptive veneer of stability. In stark contrast, Hyperliquid, a decentralized exchange, meticulously records every order and liquidation on-chain, rendering its data transparent and auditable in real-time for anyone to verify. It is this very transparency that explains why Hyperliquid registered the lion's share of liquidations, a staggering $10.3 billion out of a total exceeding $19 billion across the market.
“When thousands of liquidations happen on Binance in a single second, their reports show a maximum of one order. Due to liquidations occurring in bursts, the understatement can be up to 100 times under certain conditions,” Yian stated, highlighting the vast discrepancy.
The platform also bore witness to the single largest liquidation event, a colossal sum exceeding $203 million. Across Hyperliquid, which recently debuted its own stablecoin, user losses have surpassed $1.23 billion. A grim statistic reveals that over 1,000 users have been wiped out entirely, with at least 205 traders losing more than $1 million each. Four specific addresses incurred losses in the range of $13 to $18 million. Some industry observers speculate that the true global liquidation volume, considering un Fiared data, could be as high as $30 billion to $60 billion.
Whales Bet Big on Downturn: Strategic Shorts and Alleged Insider Trading
Amidst this market chaos, a notable player on Hyperliquid, identified as a significant whale, has again initiated a short position on Bitcoin, valued at $160 million. According to HypurrScan data, this leveraged position (10x) was opened when Bitcoin was trading at $57,370. The trader's unrealized profits have already soared past $4 million, with a liquidation point set at $63,500. Intriguingly, this same wallet is credited with amassing approximately $142 million just two days prior during the market's sharp descent.
The timing of these trades has raised eyebrows, coinciding suspiciously with Donald Trump's announcement of imposing 100% tariffs on Chinese goods. Researchers are exploring the possibility of insider trading, suggesting that the whale's actions might have been informed by non-public information. Further speculation links this aggressive trader to Garrett Jin, the former CEO of BitForex, an exchange that collapsed last year after losing $57 million. Blockchain analytics indicate that Jin's wallet has facilitated transfers to the very addresses used to establish these substantial short positions on Hyperliquid.
Adding another layer of intrigue, another anonymous wallet reportedly pocketed $88 million in just thirty minutes by opening a large position shortly before customs notifications were made public. This account was created mere days before executing this lucrative trade. The crypto community is abuzz with discussions, with some even pondering a potential connection between this mysterious trader and the highest echelons of the U.S. government.
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