Hyperliquid names Lighter as a direct competitor, former employees are implicated in the HYPE short-selling incident

Hyperliquid recently stated in an official announcement that it considers Lighter to be a direct competitor alongside Binance and Aster. Hyperliquid pointed out that these platforms are controlled by centralized orderers managing trading status, emphasizing its own architectural advantages of being "fully on-chain, operated by 24 validators, with no hidden states."

In contrast, Lighter focuses on "verifiable execution" and proof mechanisms, providing auditability for CLOB-like trading structures. The competition between the two in the decentralized trading infrastructure space is gradually intensifying.

Meanwhile, Hyperliquid also responded to community concerns regarding the alleged insider short-selling incident involving the HYPE token, stating that the related wallet belongs to a former employee who was dismissed in early 2024, and that their actions are unrelated to the team. The platform emphasized that strict HYPE trading and compliance restrictions are enforced internally for employees and contractors.