HyperLiquid Suffers USDC Outflows Amid Speculation North Korean Hackers Are Probing the Platform

HyperLiquid is the leading on-chain perpetuals exchange, commanding over 50% of the total on-chain perpetuals trading volume.

HyperLiquid, a layer-1 blockchain and decentralized exchange for perpetual futures (perps), has seen a large outflow of the USDC stablecoin amid speculation that North Korean hackers are interacting with the platform, according to a post on X by pseudonymous observer Tay, who is known for tracking threats posed by the country to crypto protocols.

A record $60 million of USDC left the exchange by 10:00 UTC Monday, according to Hashed Official's Dune-based tracker. USDC, the world's second-largest dollar-pegged stablecoin, is used as collateral on HyperLiquid. The deposit bridge still holds $2.2 billion in USDC.

Addresses linked to hackers from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) have lost more than $700,000 while trading on HyperLiquid, according to Tay. The transactions suggest the hackers are likely getting to know the platform from the inside out in order to launch a malicious attack.

"DPRK doesn't trade. DPRK tests," said Tay.

CoinDesk has reached out to HyperLiquid on X for comment on the USDC outflows and the potential threat from North Korea.

Tay said they approached the platform two weeks ago, offering to help counter the potential threat.

"I wanted to emphasize that these are the most sophisticated and rapidly evolving of all the DPRK threat groups. They are very creative and persistent. They also get their hands on 0days (such as the one Chrome patched today)," Tay's message to the platform said.

HyperLiquid is the top on-chain perpetuals exchange, commanding over 50% of the total on-chain perpetuals trading volume, which reached $8.6 billion in the past 24 hours.

The platform launched its token HYPE on Nov. 29. Since then, it has surged over 600% to $28.6, briefly topping $10 billion in market capitalization. As of writing, HYPE was the 22nd largest digital asset in the world, according to Coingecko.