Trader Makes $1.28M on Papertrade, Faces Manipulation Allegations
A trader reportedly profited $1.28 million on the new exchange Papertrade by manipulating ETH prices on Hyperliquid, while another lost $450,000 on short positions.
A trader reportedly profited $1.28 million on the new exchange Papertrade by manipulating ETH prices on Hyperliquid, while another lost $450,000 on short positions. Ethereum (ETH) is trading at $2,554.38, down 0.1% since this brief published. This is an original TLT brief based on reporting by The Block, with live market data added, as of Mon, 12 Oct 2026 10:45:03 UTC.
This incident highlights potential vulnerabilities in new trading platforms and raises concerns about market manipulation risks in decentralized finance.
- Trader made $1.28M on Papertrade using $20M ETH trades on Hyperliquid.
- Another wallet lost $450K on 30 short positions after three hours.
- Hyperliquid's TVL is $348.46M, down 0.7% in the past week.
- Market manipulation allegations have been raised against Papertrade.
- Papertrade Implements Stricter Trading Limits Amid Price Manipulation Allegations
- Trader Makes $1.28M on Papertrade, Faces Manipulation Allegations — this brief
A trader reportedly made $1.28 million on the new exchange Papertrade by executing large ETH trades on the decentralized platform 
Hyperliquid. The trades, totaling $20 million, were used to manipulate ETH prices and create profitable opportunities on Papertrade.
According to Crypto.news, this incident has raised allegations of price manipulation against Papertrade. The trades were executed through two wallets, which used the liquidity on Hyperliquid to influence prices and profit from the resulting market movements.
In a related development, the same wallet that made the $1.28 million profit later lost $450,000 when 30 short positions were liquidated on Saturday night. These positions had been open for more than three hours before being liquidated.
Hyperliquid's total value locked (TVL) is currently $348.46 million, according to DeFiLlama, marking a 0.7% decrease over the past week. This incident highlights the potential risks and vulnerabilities in new trading platforms, particularly in the decentralized finance space.
The broader crypto market remains relatively stable, with a total market cap of $2.9 trillion. 
Bitcoin is up 0.61% in the past 24 hours, while 
Ethereum has gained 2.26% to reach $2,556.95. The Fear & Greed Index stands at 69, indicating a 'Greed' sentiment in the market.
Since this brief published about 12 hours ago, Ethereum (ETH) has moved from $2,556.95 to $2,554.38 — -0.10%.
The chart plots ETH's price: grey is the move before this brief published, the vertical dashed line marks the moment it published, the horizontal dashed line is the price then, and the coloured area is the move since — from TLT's market data (daily resolution). It shows what happened after the news, not that the news caused it; many factors move prices. Not financial advice.
At today's peer-to-peer rate, 1 ETH ≈ ₦3.49M (about $2,554.38), up 2.3% over 24 hours. The naira itself trades about 2.7% above the official rate on the P2P market, so a Nigerian buyer's effective cost differs from the headline dollar price.
Live market data
Current prices for the assets in this story — live, source-stamped, updated every 15 minutes.
Figures and sectors in this story, checked live against on-chain aggregators · October 12, 2026.
TLT reads these figures directly from on-chain aggregators (DeFiLlama, mempool.space) at build time — independent of what any outlet reported. Sector totals aggregate every protocol DeFiLlama tracks in that category. Values are live and will change.
Trader Makes $1.28M on Papertrade, Faces Manipulation Allega — questions & answers
How much did the trader profit on Papertrade?
The trader reportedly made $1.28 million on Papertrade.
What allegations have been raised against Papertrade?
Price manipulation allegations have been raised against Papertrade.
How much did the trader lose on short positions?
The trader lost $450,000 on 30 short positions.
How much is 1 Ethereum worth in naira today?
About ₦3.49M at the live peer-to-peer (P2P) USDT rate, which is what Nigerians typically trade at — equivalent to roughly $2,554.38. The naira price moves with both ETH's US-dollar price and the USDT/NGN rate; use our Ethereum in naira page for any amount.
Has Ethereum's price moved since this brief was published?
ETH is down 0.10% since this brief first published — trading at $2,554.38 now versus $2,556.95 at publication. TLT re-checks this figure against CoinGecko and Binance every 15 minutes.
Which outlets reported this story?
This is an original TLT brief that synthesises reporting from The Block. It is not a copy of any one article — follow the source links above for the original reporting.
Original summary — not financial advice. This is an original TLT brief that summarises a development reported elsewhere and adds live market data for context; it is not the original article and reproduces no part of it. Follow the source link above for full details. Crypto is volatile and high-risk — always do your own research.