Bloomberg: Trader Suspected of Manipulating Oil Prices on Hyperliquid With Over $170 Million in Anomalous Orders

October 29 — According to Bloomberg, market monitoring firm Solidus Labs found in its analysis that a trader placed more than $170 million in anomalous orders through two accounts on Hyperliquid during the sharp swings in international oil prices between March 8 and 10, suspected of using "spoofing" to influence market prices. The accounts placed large orders on one side of the order book and then quickly canceled them while executing trades on the other side. Solidus said the trader profited about $119,000 during the period, but his true identity and subjective intent to manipulate the market have not been confirmed.

One case showed that the trader quickly canceled about $17 million in sell orders while executing about $425,000 in buy orders. Solidus data showed that the Brent crude perpetual contract price swung noticeably around the cancellations. Hyperliquid Labs stressed that all orders, cancellations and trades on the platform are publicly recorded on-chain and can be reviewed in real time; the issuer of the relevant contract, Trade.xyz, also said the platform has order limits and continuous monitoring mechanisms in place. The incident has once again drawn market attention to trading oversight on crypto derivatives platforms and their potential impact on traditional commodity markets.