How A $6 Million Gamble Nearly Crashed DeFi Platform Hyperliquid
The post How A $6 Million Gamble Nearly Crashed DeFi Platform Hyperliquid appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
A single trader’s ambitious move on March 26, 2025, pushed Hyperliquid—a major decentralized exchange (DEX)—to the brink of collapse. What started as a calculated $6 million short position on JellyJelly (JELLY), a little-known token with a modest $10 million market cap, spiraled into a financial whirlwind that threatened a $230 million vault and sparked a fierce debate about the soul of DeFi. A Short Position Sets the Stage The saga kicked off with a trader’s bold play on Hyperliquid, a platform celebrated for its perpetual futures trading. On March 26, they opened a $6 million short position on JELLY—a token so small it barely registered on most radars. But this wasn’t a typical trade. In a cunning twist, the trader removed the margin, consequently dumping the position onto Hyperliquid’s HLP vault, a safety net designed to absorb liquidated trades. Suddenly, the platform itself was on the hook, bearing the full weight of the risk. The market didn’t wait long to respond. A short squeeze erupted, propelling JELLY’s market cap from $10 million to a staggering $50 million in under an hour. Hyperliquid watched helplessly as its losses swelled to $12 million. The stakes were astronomical. If JELLY’s price had climbed to $0.15374, the exchange’s entire $230 million vault could have vanished, leaving a smoking crater in its wake. While Hyperliquid scrambled to contain the damage, centralized exchanges (CEXs) like Binance and OKX listed JELLY perpetual futures. That meant injecting fresh volatility into an already frenzied market. The move paid off for some. A newly created wallet, tagged as 0x20e8, swooped in with a massive long position, pocketing $8.2 million in profits with surgical precision. The mastermind behind the original short wasn’t done either. They then shuffled $7.17 million across three Hyperliquid accounts, cashing out $6.26 million while leaving $900,000 locked…
Filed under: News - @ March 28, 2025 6:20 pm