Major Whale Triggers 200% XPL Surge on Hyperliquid

Generated by AI AgentCoin World
Wednesday, Aug 27, 2025 3:48 am ET1min read
Aime RobotAime Summary

- A major whale triggered a 200% XPL price surge on Hyperliquid by depositing $16M USDC and buying 15.2M tokens, wiping order books and causing mass liquidations.

- Smaller traders lost 16.6M USDC in minutes, with one wallet losing 7M USDC, as the whale secured $14-16M profit within an hour by partially closing its position.

- Speculation linked the whale to Tron's Justin Sun via historical transfers, though unconfirmed, while the wallet retained $8.58M in XPL longs with $620K unrealized gains.

- Hyperliquid's HLP vault earned $47K in fees but faced $12M losses in a prior liquidity squeeze, highlighting risks of volatile markets and liquidity provision vulnerabilities.

- The event exposed dangers of thin liquidity, as a single trade triggered cascading liquidations, leaving retail traders with massive losses despite added margin.

A major whale triggered a 200% surge in the price of XPL on Hyperliquid on August 12, 2025, by depositing $16 million in

USDC
and rapidly buying 15.2 million XPL tokens. The trade effectively wiped the order book and caused a cascade of liquidations, sending the token’s price from around $0.58 to $1.80 within minutes [1]. The sudden price movement devastated smaller traders, with one wallet losing 7 million USDC in a short position and total losses reaching 16.6 million USDC [1].

According to on-chain analytics from Lookonchain, the whale—identified as wallet 0xb9c…6801e—partially closed its position within less than a minute, securing between $14 million and $16 million in profit within an hour [1]. Speculation quickly arose that the trader might be

Tron
founder Justin Sun, citing a historical ETH transfer from the same wallet to an address previously associated with him. However, no direct evidence has confirmed the link [1].

The wallet had been quietly accumulating small XPL long positions since August 24, and as of the event, still held $8.58 million in XPL longs with unrealized gains of approximately $620,000 [1]. Lookonchain confirmed the whale deposited 16 million USDC into Hyperliquid, sent the price soaring to $1.80, and then closed its position within an hour to secure a profit of over $14 million [1].

Hyperliquid’s HLP liquidity provider vault reportedly earned around $47,000 in fees from the trade. However, this pales in comparison to the nearly $12 million loss the vault suffered during a similar JELLY token squeeze in the past [1]. These events highlight the dual nature of liquidity provision—profitable in stable markets but highly vulnerable during liquidity crunches.

The XPL price eventually fell back to $0.60 within hours [1], but the damage was done for many traders, who described the incident as a “massacre.” One trader noted that despite having added additional margin to their position, they lost $185,000 in USDC [1]. XPL’s 24-hour volume surged to $161 million, a 311% increase, while open interest dropped by 70%, and fees hit a record $7.7 million [1].

The incident underscores the inherent risks of trading in thinly liquid markets. When a single large trade clears the order book, it can trigger a chain reaction of liquidations, leaving smaller traders with no time to respond. While whales capitalize on such volatility for rapid profit, retail traders face the full brunt of the market’s unforgiving nature [1].

Source: [1] Did Justin Sun Spark XPL's 200% Surge on Hyperliquid? (https://www.cryptotimes.io/2025/08/27/did-justin-sun-spark-xpls-200-surge-on-hyperliquid/)