Which DEX paused after manipulation?

TLDR

Hyperliquid is the DEX that paused deposits and withdrawals following a POPCAT price manipulation incident, confirmed in an exchange?focused report.

1. Temporary pause amid a coordinated trading scheme tied to POPCAT, then resumed later per a project site coverage.
2. Estimated loss to its HLP vault was about $4.9 million, per a market update.
3. Hyperliquid framed it as manipulation, not a hack, in line with prior incidents noted in the report above.

Deep Dive

1. What Paused

Hyperliquid paused deposits and withdrawals on 12 Nov after unusual activity around POPCAT. The pause was visible on platform screenshots and on Arbitrum, then later resumed, with community posts noting an emergency lock function was used and withdrawals restarted after about an hour, per a project site coverage.

2. The Manipulation

An attacker withdrew ~$3 million USDC from OKX, split funds across 19 wallets, and opened $20$30 million in leveraged longs on POPCAT, including a ~$20 million buy wall at ~$0.21. When the wall was removed, price plunged and liquidations cascaded, leaving HLP with ~$4.9 million in losses as positions were closed, per an exchange?focused report and a market update.

3. Why It Matters

This was Hyperliquids third major manipulation event in 2025, highlighting recurring risks in decentralized perpetuals: high leverage on illiquid tokens, concentrated liquidity, and community?funded liquidation vaults can be targeted, per a market update.

Conclusion

Hyperliquid paused to contain a coordinated POPCAT manipulation that inflicted multi?million dollar losses on its HLP vault. The episode underscores how leveraged trading on thin markets can overwhelm decentralized backstops and why some DEXs maintain emergency controls to stabilize liquidity during extreme events.