Trove Markets abruptly abandoned its planned integration with Hyperliquid and announced a pivot to Solana days before its token generation event (TGE), prompting investor demands for refunds and intense scrutiny of on-chain activity. The move followed a reported withdrawal of critical liquidity and allegations that project-linked wallets sold large amounts of HYPE tokens.
Trove had outlined a Hyperliquid-based roadmap and raised capital to meet that requirement. In November 2025, the team raised funds to acquire the 500,000 HYPE tokens required under Hyperliquid’s HIP‑3 staking framework. A public token sale from January 8–11, 2026 raised more than $11.5 million, capital that backers say was explicitly marketed for the Hyperliquid build.
Around January 16–17, 2026, a liquidity partner reportedly withdrew support and liquidated the HYPE tokens Trove needed for HIP‑3. On‑chain investigators, including ZachXBT, flagged nearly 194,000 HYPE tokens being sold within 24 hours — activity valued at roughly $10 million and alleged to come from wallets tied to the project. Faced with the loss of the staking bond and the ensuing allegations, the team announced a pivot to Solana and delayed the TGE.
“The pivot was prompted by a liquidity partner withdrawing 500,000 HYPE tokens,” said a builder known as Unwise, who cited the withdrawal as the direct cause for abandoning the Hyperliquid integration. The team also apologized for the delay and said it needed extra time to process refunds and migrate to Solana.
Refunds, allegations and market impact
Investor reaction was swift. Many participants in the January token sale argued the project deviated from its stated plan and demanded returns. Trove acknowledged it must arrange approximately $2.44 million in refunds, a sizeable portion of the $11.5 million raised in that sale.
The Hyperliquid Foundation donated HYPE tokens to an on‑chain investigator to help clarify whether the transfers represented coordinated misconduct or mismanagement. That donation and the public tracing of transfers intensified scrutiny and raised questions about internal controls, disclosure and the sufficiency of contingency planning when projects depend on third‑party staking obligations.
For users and counterparties that committed funds expecting a Hyperliquid product, the immediate impact is liquidity disruption and legal or reputational risk. For the broader market, the episode underscores how protocol-specific dependencies — and sudden changes to them — can cascade into capital losses and trust erosion.
Investors are now turning their attention to the TGE timetable and the outcome of the on‑chain investigation; the execution of the delayed token event and any findings from tracing the HYPE transfers will be decisive for Trove’s ability to restore confidence and proceed with its Solana rebuild.
