The attack on Hyperliquid failed: the CZ-linked exchange Aster lost 4 times more than the victim.
The conflict between two leading decentralized derivatives exchanges has entered a phase of open confrontation. A trading address, allegedly funded through the Aster platform, attempted to artificially crash the liquidity of its direct competitor, Hyperliquid. Aster is publicly supported by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ), which has given this incident particular significance.
The organizers used a classic manipulation scheme, but this time the system worked differently: the attacker lost four times more than their victim. Let's break down how this happened.
Chronicle of a Failed Manipulation
The attempted attack was recorded by analysts on June 16. According to blockchain analysis, the address belonged to a group of wallets that had withdrawn $2.3 million from Aster a week earlier. Approximately 20 hours before the incident, this wallet transferred $635,000 to Hyperliquid. Immediately after, the trader began aggressively opening a long position on the Fartcoin token.
| Operation Stage | Position Size | Result for Participant |
| Position Building | $7.1 million | Reached 20% of open interest |
| Forced Closure | $0 | Full liquidation and loss of $540,000 |
| Outcome for HLP Pool | Loss of approximately $130,000 | Successfully absorbed and closed the position |
The plan completely failed, and the identity of the wallet owner remains undisclosed.
The Scenario That Didn't Work
Analyst il.hl described in detail the classic attack scheme, consisting of five sequential steps: accumulating about 20% of open interest on a low-liquidity asset, artificially driving up the price through spot market purchases, provoking protective liquidation of large positions, forcibly transferring these positions to the HLP liquidity pool, and mass dumping tokens, leaving the pool with huge losses.
Attackers had used a similar algorithm during past incidents on Hyperliquid. However, this time the strategy failed from the very beginning. After four hours of continuous buying, the wallet was liquidated, so the organizer didn't even have time to start driving up the price. As a result, the attacker suffered much greater financial damage than the platform itself. Later, on June 18, well-known trader MartyParty confirmed that Aster is openly attacking Hyperliquid.
Context: The Aster and Hyperliquid Standoff
The Aster platform is a multi-chain DEX without mandatory user verification. The project was created by merging Astherus and APX Finance, followed by a rebranding with support from YZi Labs. The exchange offers clients massive leverage of up to 1000x. Changpeng Zhao openly calls this project Hyperliquid's main rival, leading to repeated accusations that the businessman is attacking the platform through Aster.
Analyst's Comment: This incident clearly demonstrates that even well-funded attempts at market manipulation can backfire catastrophically on the attackers themselves. Hyperliquid's liquidity mechanisms, while not perfect, proved resilient enough to withstand a coordinated attack. For Aster, this failure is a serious blow to its reputation, especially given the loud claims of superiority over its competitor.