This Altcoin May Have Been Manipulated Big Today: First a Pump, Then a Major Dump – Today’s Top Story
Decentralized cryptocurrency exchange Hyperliquid has temporarily halted deposits and withdrawals on the POPCAT trading pair due to suspected price manipulation. An on-chain analyst reported that an investor withdrew $3 million USDC from OKX, distributed it across 19 wallets, and opened a $20 million long position in POPCAT. This effort inflated POPCAT’s price before the investor liquidated their position, leading to a $4.9 million loss for Hyperliquid's liquidity provider. The manipulation echoes a similar incident involving another token, JELLYJELLY, in March, where Hyperliquid incurred $12 million in unrealized losses.
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Temporary Suspension of POPCAT Operations
Decentralized cryptocurrency exchange Hyperliquid announced today that it has temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals on the POPCAT trading pair due to suspicions of possible price manipulation attempts. POPCAT was recorded as one of the altcoins that experienced the most liquidation following a massive pump and dump wave.
Evidence of Pump and Dump Scheme
A chart tracking the price of POPCAT revealed evidence of a significant pump and dump. It appeared that the platform had also halted operations for maintenance, with on-chain data from ArbiScan confirming this pause. Nevertheless, the community's attention was drawn to allegations of a user attempting to artificially inflate the price of POPCAT.
On-Chain Analysis of Suspected Manipulation
On-chain analyst MLMabc shared details of the alleged incident on Twitter (X). According to his post, a user had withdrawn 3 million USDC from the OKX exchange 13 hours prior and distributed it across 19 different wallets. The investor then opened a long position worth approximately $20 million in POPCAT, aiming to push the price to $0.21.
Outcome of the Manipulative Activity
According to the analyst, after the buy wall was lifted, the investor liquidated their entire $20-$30 million POPCAT position. This resulted in a $4.9 million loss being absorbed by Hyperliquid's liquidity provider (HLP). In response, Hyperliquid manually closed the position to contain further damage.
Similar Case in March
This incident draws parallels with a similar case of manipulation that Hyperliquid experienced in March involving a Solana memecoin named JELLYJELLY. At that time, the platform suffered approximately $12 million in unrealized losses due to manipulative trading activities.
Disclaimer
This is not investment advice.