HyperLiquid faces $96M USDC withdrawals amid North Korean hacker concerns
The outflow amounted to $96.3 million
On Monday, HyperLiquid, the largest decentralized exchange (DEX) for perpetual futures, experienced a significant outflow of USDC deposits, which serve as reserves for trading.
According to blockchain analytics platform Dune, users withdrew $96.3 million in USDC from the platform on December 23, representing over 4% of the total deposits of $2.24 billion.
The withdrawals were triggered by posts on X by a Taiwanese blockchain developer known as Tay, who reported that North Korean hackers are testing HyperLiquid for vulnerabilities under the guise of commodity trading operations.
Tay believes that the transactions suggest the hackers are familiarizing themselves with the platform’s internal workings to prepare for a malicious attack.
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"North Korea isn’t trading. North Korea is testing," Tay wrote, adding that two weeks ago, she offered to assist the HyperLiquid team in countering potential threats. However, she was assured that everything was under control.
Developers remain calm
HyperLiquid is the leading platform for perpetual futures, holding over 50% of the market share, with a 24-hour trading volume of $8.6 billion.
In late November, the platform launched its native token, HYPE, conducting one of the largest airdrops in the market. Following the airdrop, the token's price surged from $3.90 to nearly $34. However, amidst rumors of a potential hack, HYPE has lost 21% in the past 24 hours and was trading at $26.70 at the time of writing.
North Korean hacker group BlueNoroff has intensified its attacks on the global cryptocurrency sector with a new malware campaign specifically targeting Bitcoin and other digital assets. BlueNoroff, linked to the infamous Lazarus hacking group, has targeted various cryptocurrency firms and individuals with sophisticated phishing tactics since 2019.
The new malware, recently discovered by cybersecurity firm SentinelLabs, operates under the codename "Hidden Risk" and uses a multi-stage process to infect MacOS
