TLDR:
- A runaway trading bot triggered an abnormal HYPE price spike on Lighter, later removed from the exchange’s chart interface.
- Lighter said the on-chain data remained intact and public despite the chart correction for “scaling purposes.”
- Critics, including analyst Duo Nine, accused the platform of hiding illiquidity and misleading its users.
- The event reignited debate over transparency and data presentation on decentralized trading front ends.
A sharp price anomaly in the HYPE market has stirred a debate over transparency on decentralized trading platforms.
Lighter, a decentralized perpetuals exchange, said a runaway bot caused an abnormal price spike during low-volume trading. The glitch briefly inflated HYPE prices before the platform removed the distorted data from its chart interface.
On-chain records remain visible, though traders argue that deleting visuals undermines openness. The event quickly drew attention from crypto market analysts and users across social media.
Lighter Explains the HYPE Price Glitch
According to WuBlockchain, the issue began when an automated trading bot placed oversized orders into the thin HYPE market.
Lighter confirmed the problem in a statement, calling it an isolated event that did not cause any liquidations or broader effects. The platform said only small trades were executed at high prices, creating a misleading wick on the chart.
To prevent what it described as “scaling issues,” Lighter scrubbed the extreme price movement from its front-end display. The exchange maintained that it did not alter blockchain records, stressing that all raw data remains public through block explorers.
Lighter said it removed the spike purely for usability, arguing that leaving it would distort price charts for traders.
The team reiterated that decentralized platforms hosting their own interfaces can decide how to visualize market data. They added that other front ends connected to the same protocol could choose to keep the wick visible. This explanation, however, did not convince everyone.
Traders Question Data Transparency in Crypto Markets
Market analyst Duo Nine (YCC) publicly criticized Lighter’s decision, claiming it masked liquidity weaknesses in the HYPE order book.
In his post, he accused the platform of hiding price distortions instead of acknowledging illiquid conditions. His comments suggested that removing data from user charts could mislead traders about real market behavior.
He warned that this type of editing risks eroding trust if similar situations occur during periods of higher leverage or open positions. According to Duo Nine, platforms promoting decentralization should avoid altering user-facing market visuals.
You should just say your ordebooks are illiquid instead of censoring them to hide it.
You're effectively lying to your users by doing this. If next time users get liquidated, what then?https://t.co/V2jb0b1Zun
— Duo Nine
YCC (@DU09BTC) October 28, 2025
The debate has since spread across crypto circles, raising fresh questions about front-end control in decentralized systems. Some traders sympathized with Lighter’s explanation, saying the fix avoided confusion for new users.
Others viewed it as a censorship issue, arguing that data, accurate or not, should remain visible.
While the HYPE incident did not result in financial damage, it reignited broader concerns about chart integrity in decentralized finance. The situation highlights how quickly technical issues can evolve into transparency controversies within crypto trading environments.
The post Market Expert Accuses Lighter of Censoring HYPE Data After Flash Spike appeared first on Blockonomi.
Source: https://blockonomi.com/market-expert-accuses-lighter-of-censoring-hype-data-after-flash-spike/