The funds were swiftly bridged to Ethereum, according to security firm Peckshield.
A trader controlling the address “0x0cdC…E955” lost roughly $21 million on decentralized exchange Hyperliquid after a private key was compromised, according to blockchain security firm PeckShield.
The attacker bridged the haul to Ethereum, including 17.75 million DAI and about 3.11 million MSYRUPUSDP, onchain data cited by the web3 service on X shows.
A private key is the cryptographic passcode that proves ownership of a wallet. This means anyone with it can move funds. Losing control of a private key is akin to handing over the master code of a bank vault.
PeckShield did not immediately identify how the key was exposed.
Key thefts remain one of crypto’s costliest risks. In the first half of 2025, private key and front-end compromises drove more than $2 billion in stolen digital assets, The Block reported.
The episode adds to Hyperliquid’s rocky security record across its broader ecosystem. Hyperliquid bills itself as a decentralized perpetual exchange running on its own high-performance blockchain with onchain order books and sub-second finality.
