MOODENG and Two Other Currency Manipulation Suspicions: A Comprehensive Analysis of Fake Online Inquiries and Volatility Warnings

TL;DR

Social media claims that MOODENG, POPCAT, and JELLYJELLY have been subjected to the same fake Open Interest (OI) manipulation tactics. Investigations revealed that POPCAT and JELLYJELLY have documented manipulation incidents on Hyperliquid (occurring in November and March 2025, respectively), but the allegations of fake OI for MOODENG lack empirical support , despite its data showing an unusual 191% single-day surge in OI on December 7th. Current status of the three tokens: MOODENG price $0.114 (24h +58.82%), OI $70.44M; POPCAT price $0.1038 (24h +5.92%), OI $36.46M; JELLYJELLY price $0.03979 (24h -0.33%), OI $16.02M.

Analysis of core allegations

False OI manipulation statement

On December 6, 2025, crypto analyst @0xSweep posted a key statement on social media: "$MOODENG, $POPCAT, $JELLYJELLY all got crimed through the same manipulation tactic. Fake open interest through decentralized exchanges." x.com

Survey results :

• POPCAT and JELLYJELLY : There are independent, documented Hyperliquid manipulation events, but they occurred at different times and are not the same event.
• MOODENG : As of December 7, 2025, no official reports or news reports have been found to verify any manipulation of online identity (OI).
• Three-currency correlation : primarily based on a single social media claim, lacking cross-source verification.

Confirmed manipulation incidents

Detailed analysis of individual stocks

MOODENG technology and on-chain anomalies

Derivatives data (as of 00:39 UTC, December 7, 2025) :

• Total OI : $70.44M (24h +191%)
• OI distribution : Binance $15.17M (+272.38%), Bybit $13.25M (+252.36%), OKX $7.71M (+249.39%)
• Funding rates : Generally negative (Binance -0.8983%, Bybit -0.8000%), short sellers are paying long positions.
• 24-hour liquidation : Total $4.39M, short liquidation $2.29M slightly higher than long liquidation $2.10M.

Liquidation Risk Mapping :

• The current price is below $0.11 by 30 levels: the cumulative risk of long positions being liquidated is $1.998M (at $0.0991).
• The upper 30 levels indicate a cumulative short liquidation risk of $1.541M (at $0.1297).
• Highest single liquidation level: $265,260 (short position, at $0.127)

On-chain evidence :

• Token Information : Solana SPL token, contract address ED5nyyWEzpPPiWimP8vYm7sD7TD3LAt3Q3gRTWHzPJBY, issued through Pump.fun on September 10, 2024.
• Supply structure : Fixed supply of 989,971,791 tokens, 100% allocated via Pump.fun bonding curve, with no lock-up or taxes.
• Coin holdings distribution : Approximately 76,000+ holders, with the top 25 controlling approximately 55% of the supply; top-tier addresses are linked to CEXs (Robinhood 10.18%, Upbit 8.94%).
• Suspicious pattern : Early whale(such as address 5FGcB2H...) dispersed their holdings to related addresses, achieving returns as high as 28,000 times, yet they did not sell, indicating signs of coordinated market manipulation.

Abnormal indicator assessment :

• The surge in OI is correlated with prices : Within 24 hours, OI increased by 191% and prices increased by 58.82%, exceeding the scope of organic growth.
• Futures/Spot Imbalance : Perpetual contracts (OI) dominate, with Binance spot trading volume at $272.83 million but futures OI accounting for a higher proportion, indicating leveraged speculation rather than spot demand.
• Manipulation Possibility : Data shows anomalies but no clear evidence of fraudulent online activity (OI); specific surges on exchanges (e.g., BingX +596.56%) require monitoring for wash trading.

POPCAT has confirmed the manipulation incident.

Hyperliquid manipulation details (November 12-13, 2025) :

• Method : The attacker withdrew $3 million USDC from OKX, distributed it to 19-26 wallets, opened $20-30 million POPCAT perpetual long positions on Hyperliquid, and placed fake $25-30 million buy orders at $0.21 to lure traders.
• Result : The buy wall was suddenly removed, causing the price to plummet from $0.21 to $0.12-$0.13 (-25% to -43%), triggering a $63M liquidation ($62M long positions); the attacker lost $3-4M in margin, and Hyperliquid HLP incurred $4.9M in bad debt.
• Attribution : Suspected link to the wallet of Vanessa Cao, founder of BTX Capital, and similar manipulation methods to TST. (x.com x.com)

Current status (as of 00:41 UTC, December 7, 2025) :

• Total OI : 36.46M (24h +8.01%)
• Price : $0.1038 (24h +5.92%)
• Funding rate : 0.005%, long positions pay short positions.
• Liquidation risk The cumulative risk of long positions being liquidated at $0.099 is $110,777, and the risk of short positions at $0.104 is $91,302.

On-chain features :

• Token Information : Solana token, mint address 7GCihgDB8fe6KNjn2MYtkzZcRjQy3t9GHdC8uHYmW2hr, total supply 979,978,670 tokens.
• Coin holding distribution : Small holders (<10,000 coins) account for 93.1% (213,035 wallets), indicating a relatively decentralized market.
• Manipulation pattern : Early on, there was wash trading; the Hyperliquid incident in November involved artificially inflating prices followed by a liquidity drain.

JELLYJELLY Manipulation and Squeeze Incident

The Hyperliquid incident (approximately March 28, 2025) :

• Method : A whale holding 124.6M JELLY ($4.85M) dumped the token, opened a large short position on Hyperliquid, and then withdrew its margin; HLP was passively taken over the $15.3M short position.
• Reversal : A whale buyback of Jelly triggered a short squeeze, causing the market capitalization to surge from a low of $10 million to $43 million within an hour; HLP suffered unrealized losses of $12-13.5 million.
• Action taken : Hyperliquid removed the JELLY perpetual license and settled the price at $0.0095 (DEX price $0.50); ​​promised compensation to users (excluding flagged accounts).
• Impact : Binance/OKX's listing of Jelly Perpetual during the turmoil may have exacerbated the impact.

Current status (as of 00:41 UTC, December 7, 2025) :

• Total OI : $16.02M (24h -7.12%)
• Price : $0.03979 (24h -0.33%)
• Funding fees : 0.005% (Binance, Bybit, OKX), KuCoin 0.0543%
• Liquidation risk The cumulative upside risk is as high as $595,085 (to $0.0443), indicating significant potential for a short squeeze.

On-chain concentration risk :

• Token Information : Solana token, mint address FeR8VBqNRSUD5NtXAj2n3j1dAHkZHfyDktKuLXD4pump, total supply 999,999,099 tokens.
• Coin holding distribution : Top holders hold 99,402,752 coins (9.94%), with the top 10 holding a combined 43.4% of the supply; 3 wallets control 60% of the supply (November 2025 data).
• Evidence of manipulation : High concentration makes price manipulation possible; Bubblemaps identified coordinated trading patterns during November, with price fluctuations and volume diverging (such as the 58% plunge on November 1st accompanied by a trading volume of 379 million tokens), indicating wash trading and pump-and-dump schemes.

Manipulation techniques and their impact on exchanges

Core Tactical Mode

Fake liquidity construction :

1. Multi-wallet collaborative positioning : Distribute funds across 10-30 wallets, open leveraged long/short positions to inflate online interest (OI) and create an illusion of demand.
2. Fake buy/sell orders : Placing large limit orders to attract retail investors, then triggering price fluctuations before the orders are withdrawn.
3. Liquidation Waterfall : Triggers a chain of liquidations using leveraged positions, forcing the HLP to assume losses.
4. CEX hedging for profit : This could involve establishing a reverse position on a centralized exchange to arbitrage from DEX manipulation.

Affected exchanges

Community Response and Warning

Key opinion leader perspectives

@0xSweep (Co-founder of GlydeGG, Bitcoin advocate):

• The three-currency incident was characterized as "crimed," emphasizing that fake online identification (OI) was a common tactic.
• Warning: The transparency of decentralized exchanges is being weaponized for deception rather than protection.

@KookCapitalLLC :

• Accusing Binance of systemic crimes: "binance only lists insider scams where they get a massive chunk of supply for free... the space really needs to shed binance altogether"
• Claiming that the delayed launch allowed insiders to obtain supplies at lower prices

Bearhard (YouTube analyst):

• Leverage manipulation risk warning: "this is a short-term speculation with leverage... the odds are definitely in our favor [for shorts to pay longs], but this could change at a moment's notice"

Market Sentiment and Warnings

Overall sentiment : Overwhelmingly negative and skeptical, FUD-dominated, with no bullish opposing narrative.

Core Warning :

• To avoid short-term speculation based on false indicators, DEX OI data may be fabricated.
• The memecoin ecosystem faces a vulnerability to a "crime cycle": high initial participation fades due to a lack of transparency and potential pump-and-dump schemes.
• Concentrated holdings of cryptocurrency (such as JELLY, where 60% is controlled by three wallets) constitute a "time bomb" for exiting liquidity.

in conclusion

Event authenticity assessment

Manipulation confirmed :

• POPCAT : Hyperliquid's fraudulent buying and manipulation on November 12-13, 2025, resulted in a $63M liquidation and a $4.9M platform loss, verifiable from multiple sources.
• JELLYJELLY : The Hyperliquid short squeeze in March 2025 resulted in a loss of $12-13.5 million. The platform removed the stock and provided compensation.

Unconfirmed statement :

• MOODENG : The unusual surge in OI (+191% 24h) and price volatility (+58.82%) on December 7th suggests a suspicious pattern, but there is no direct evidence or official report of fraudulent OI.
• Three-currency linkage : Primarily based on a single social media statement, the three incidents are actually independent manipulation cases occurring at different times.

Risk Warning

Traders should note :

1. DEX Derivatives Risks : Platforms like Hyperliquid are vulnerable to multi-wallet coordinated attacks; HLP losses could ultimately impact users.
2. Leverage Trap : Negative funding rates and a surge in online interest (OI) may foreshadow a liquidation waterfall after long positions have accumulated.
3. On-chain concentration : High concentration of token holdings (such as JELLY) significantly increases the risk of price manipulation and flash crashes.
4. Social media verification : Major allegations require cross-source verification; statements from a single influencer should not be used as the basis for investment decisions.

Regulatory gap : As of December 7, 2025, no official warnings or actions have been found from the CFTC or exchanges regarding these events, indicating a weak market self-regulatory mechanism.

Data as of 00:43 UTC on December 7, 2025. Cryptocurrency investment carries high risk; please make your own assessment.