The derivatives trading platform Hyperliquid faced a sudden price surge for the XPL token, leading to significant liquidations and the implementation of new security measures.
Analysis of XPL Price Surge
Late Tuesday, the XPL/USD perpetual contract on Hyperliquid surged by 2.5 times when several large traders swept the order book, briefly sending prices to $1.80 before falling back. CoinGlass data shows that over $17 million in positions were liquidated within minutes, mostly on the short side.
Report on Liquidations and Losses
Four addresses conducted the market squeeze, netting nearly $47.5 million in profits on Wednesday, with at least one counterparty nursing a $4.6 million loss. According to Spot On Chain, the largest of the four addresses, wallet 0xb9c, generated over $15 million and acted as the 'main orchestrator.'
New Security Measures from Hyperliquid
Hyperliquid stated in a Telegram update that its systems performed as designed, first executing liquidations against the order book and then shifting to auto-deleveraging when margin was insufficient. The platform stressed that its contracts use isolated-only margin, meaning the losses were contained to XPL and did not spread to other markets.
The incident highlights the risks of speculative trading in pre-listing markets, where whale activity can quickly distort price discovery.
