Hyperliquid (HYPE) Spiked to $98 on Lighter — Here’s What Went On
HYPE’s sudden $98 surge on Lighter—caused by bot activity—has ignited community criticism over transparency and DeFi integrity after the platform removed the chart wick.
The native token of the Hyperliquid platform, HYPE, briefly rose to $98 on Lighter, an Ethereum Layer 2 perpetual futures exchange, before plummeting back.
The Lighter team clarified that the spike was caused by bot activity, not genuine market movement. However, the incident has sparked notable criticism from the community.
What Caused the $98 HYPE Price Spike on Lighter?
The incident unfolded several hours ago. Screenshots circulating on X (formerly Twitter) showed a chart depicting HYPE’s price surging from approximately $48 to a peak of $98, forming a long green candle.
NEW: $HYPE WICKED TO $98 ON LIGHTER pic.twitter.com/EyhdTsN6hP
— DEGEN NEWS (@DegenerateNews) October 27, 2025
The spike represented more than a doubling of HYPE’s value, prompting immediate speculation. However, Lighter’s team swiftly attributed the event to a malfunctioning bot.
“A runaway bot jammed through the HYPE book with size,” the post read.
According to the exchange, no liquidations occurred and no users suffered losses beyond the temporary price distortion. To prevent scaling issues on price charts, Lighter removed the exaggerated wick from its public interface.
Furthermore, the team explained that on-chain records remained unaltered and accessible via block explorers. They positioned the removal as a user-friendly decision to prevent display distortions, noting that alternative frontends could opt to retain the data.
“On-chain data is not (and cannot be) modified and is on the block explorer for those interested. But as we operate the main front end, we make decisions on presenting charts in the way most helpful to traders,” the team noted.
The response elicited mixed reactions. Supporters praised the move as pragmatic.
“Perfectly reasonable to remove the wick from the frontend tbh,” a user wrote.
Nonetheless, criticism dominated the discourse. Many market watchers accused Lighter of undermining the principles of decentralized finance (DeFi).
$HYPE on Lighter wicked to ~$100.. but somehow the evidence got completely deleted from the chart."Decentralised Finance" at its finest 🫡 pic.twitter.com/G8VGoBUQWd
— Ardi (@AltcoinArdi) October 28, 2025
Crypto analyst Duo Nine argued that the platform’s decision masked underlying liquidity issues rather than addressing them transparently.
“You should just say your ordebooks are illiquid instead of censoring them to hide it. You’re effectively lying to your users by doing this. If next time users get liquidated, what then?” he stated.
Another community member echoed these sentiments, calling the move an attempt to erase history.
“Removing the wick from the frontend is seen as ‘erasing history’ or ‘pretending it never happened,’ undermining trust in the platform’s data presentation. Labeling it a ‘runaway bot’ is a ‘cop out’ that shifts blame from Lighter’s core problems, like insufficient liquidity to absorb moderate orders without extreme wicks,” Hyperliquid Daily remarked.
The post added that while no automatic liquidations occurred, the sudden price spike reportedly triggered panic among traders. Some closed positions at a loss to avoid potential liquidations, while others may have gained unfairly from the brief market distortion.
As of Tuesday morning, HYPE traded around $47.8, with Lighter’s charts now reflecting a seamless baseline devoid of the infamous spike. Still, the incident has reignited concerns about liquidity and transparency across decentralized platforms. Whether it erodes trust in Lighter or catalyzes improvements remains to be seen.
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
You may also like
U.S. Announces $490 Billion Investment as Global Regulations and Geopolitical Dynamics Evolve
- U.S. Commerce Secretary finalizes $490B investment to boost domestic industries and global trade partnerships. - Kuwait accelerates capital market modernization via quadrilateral plan to enhance competitiveness and investor confidence. - KalshiEX sues New York over regulatory jurisdiction, claiming federal preemption for sports outcome derivatives. - Thailand's PM meets U.S. President Trump ahead of Cambodia ceasefire, signaling Southeast Asia diplomatic shifts. - Global developments highlight regulatory

Hyperliquid News Today: BigBear.ai's Defense AI Boom: Genuine Profits or Hype Fueled by Collaborations?
- BigBear.ai's stock surged 300% in 2025 due to defense AI partnerships and government spending, mirroring Palantir's rally. - The company secured $380M in contracts and expanded biometric solutions but reported $228.6M net loss and slashed revenue guidance. - Palantir's $10B U.S. Army contract and $1B+ Q2 revenue highlight defense AI growth, though both firms face valuation skepticism. - BigBear's edge-computing focus contrasts with Palantir's commercial expansion, as investors await Q3 earnings to valida

AI-Powered Retail Growth: PayPal and OpenAI Combine ChatGPT for Effortless Shopping
- PayPal partners with OpenAI to integrate payment systems into ChatGPT via Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), enabling in-chat transactions. - The collaboration connects PayPal's 400M shoppers with ChatGPT's 700M users, streamlining checkout while managing fraud and merchant integrations. - PayPal's shares rose 14% premarket as the deal expands AI-driven commerce, with 2026 plans to make 24,000+ merchants' catalogs searchable in ChatGPT. - Risks include technical scaling challenges and fraud controls for co

PayPal and OpenAI Transform Shopping Experience with AI-Driven Payment Solutions
- PayPal partners with OpenAI to integrate its digital wallet into ChatGPT, enabling direct purchases via AI-powered transactions for the first time in e-commerce. - The 2026 launch will let users click "Buy with PayPal" in ChatGPT while merchants access OpenAI's 700M weekly users through OpenAI's Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP). - PayPal handles backend operations like payment validation and dispute resolution, aligning with CEO Alex Chriss' vision of AI-driven "personalized shopping paradigms." - OpenAI

