Hyperliquid has recorded remarkable traction in equity and crypto perpetuals (perps). Perps are contracts that allow traders to speculate on price movements without a fixed maturity.
The recently deployed equity perps (HIP-3), which allow traders to bet on traditional stocks with leverage, have crossed $1 billion in trading volume.
Additionally, the daily Open Interest (OI) was nearing a record high of $800 billion. This further underscored strong demand despite an overall lull in the crypto market.
Source: ASXN
On Bitcoin perps, Hyperliquid founder Jeff Yan said,
“Hyperliquid has quietly achieved an important milestone of becoming the most liquid venue for crypto price discovery in the world.”
He cited the platform’s liquidity depth, which showed thicker order books than Binance. But will this boost the native token’s recovery?
Will HYPE extend its 24% recovery?
Following the update on the massive traction, HYPE posted a 24% jump in the past 24 hours. It rose from $22 to $28. But it also reached an overhead hurdle that may derail further recovery if bulls fail to clear it.
Source: HYPE/USDT, TradingView
The $28 price area (red zone) has been a key short-term supply pressure since mid-December and may block bulls again if momentum falters at the level. If they clear it and top $30, then a clear run to $35 may be feasible.
What could drive HYPE’s recovery?
Overall, HYPE was still down 52% from its record high of $59 hit in September 2025. But according to analyst Ericonomic, some of the bearish catalysts that drove the downtrend have significantly eased.
The feared monthly unlocks (9.92 million HYPE), for example, saw only 10% of the supply sold off in the past two months. For Ericonometric, this was a ‘trickle’ rather than a ‘cliff’ that was priced in during the late 2025 dump.
Source: Ericonomic/X
The only problem, the analyst added, was that Hyperliquid Strategies was accumulating these team unlocks. This could limit the treasury firm’s ability to buy more HYPE off the spot market directly.
Besides, several whales, including Fasanara Capital, Tornado Cash player, and Continue Capital, have been persistent sellers, but the pressure had eased, the analyst noted.
The top 10 buyers had accumulated nearly $200 million in HYPE in the past 30 days, further helping stabilize prices above $20.
Finally, a significant portion of long leveraged positions have been wiped out and have presented a structural setup for a bullish recovery. However, the platform’s revenue was still muted despite growing traction.
For a sustained price recovery to be possible, Hyperliquid’s revenue neeeds to reverse higher to drive more HYPE buybacks.
Source: DeFiLlama
Final Thoughts
- Hyperliquid’s founder said the platform now rivals Binance as the most liquid venue for crypto price discovery.
- Analysts believe HYPE’s recovery was likely amid overblown monthly unlock fears and easing selling pressure from whales.