On August 27, the decentralized derivatives platform Hyperliquid witnessed another dramatic market event as XPL pre-contracts skyrocketed, sparking fresh concerns over potential market manipulation. Between approximately 5:50 AM Beijing time, XPL surged from $0.60 to $1.80 in just five minutes, triggering a cascade of short position liquidations—mostly 1x hedge orders—before plummeting back to around $0.06.
Blockchain analysis by @ai_9684xtpa reveals that four primary wallets orchestrated the spike, collectively netting around $46.1 million. The wallet beginning with 0xb9c…6801e acted as the main driver, depositing $16 million in USD Coin to place aggressive buy orders that propelled XPL’s rapid ascent. Shortly after the peak, this wallet closed part of its positions, securing $16 million in profit, while still maintaining an $8.28 million XPL contract position.
Three other wallets—0xe417…, 0x006…, and 0x894…—also benefited from the short liquidations. These wallets had built long XPL positions in the days leading up to the spike and began closing them near the brief price peak, capturing the remaining profits. Wallets 0xe417… and 0x006… share the same funding source, while 0x894…, funded through Binance, appears to have profited independently, possibly coincidentally.
Hyperliquid’s XPL Price Surge Limited to Its DEX Due to Single-Oracle Dependency
Notably, the extreme price swing triggered by 0xb9c’s long positions occurred solely on Hyperliquid. Centralized exchanges such as Binance and Bitget, which also offered XPL pre-contracts, showed no corresponding price movement.
According to Chinese crypto media outlet BlockBeats on Binance Square, the discrepancy stems from Hyperliquid’s reliance on a single internal oracle for price feeds. Unlike centralized exchanges that aggregate data from multiple sources to stabilize prices, Hyperliquid’s oracle is highly sensitive to concentrated trades. Consequently, a few aggressive whale buys were enough to push the local price sharply upward, without impacting the broader market.
Who is behind this?
The identities behind the wallets remain unconfirmed, though community speculation has arisen based on historical on-chain activity. Analyst @ai_9684xtpa observed that the 0xb9c wallet had transferred Ethereum (ETH) five years ago to an address linked to Justin Sun. However, there is no concrete evidence connecting him to the recent Hyperliquid event.
