Original ｜ Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
Author | Golem (@web3_golem)
HYPE should surpass SOL before the end of this bull market, BitMEX co-founder and one of HYPE’s most dedicated “H guards,” Arthur Hayes, was the first to publicly voice this expectation at the end of May, having previously expressed multiple times that HYPE could reach $150.
Arthur Hayes's "bashing one while praising another" began when Kyle Samani, former co-founder of Multicoin Capital and a staunch supporter of "S Guards," launched criticism at Hyperliquid in the community. Their exchange of heated remarks quickly escalated, culminating in a $100,000 bet that HYPE would outperform all top-ten cryptocurrencies by market cap for the remainder of this year （To learn more about their feud, read:Solana and Hyperliquid’s Most Loyal Guards Are Trading Barbs）.
In recent days, HYPE has continued to surge, reaching a new all-time high of $75, causing some investors eager to enter the market to feel hesitant, with some even attempting to short it. In this article, Odaily Planet Daily analyzes the fundamental changes in HYPE from the perspective of market bid and ask orders, for readers' reference.
The strongest altcoin ETF in history has arrived
There are currently two HYPE spot ETFs on the market: On May 12, 21Shares launched the first Hyperliquid ETF (THYP) on Nasdaq; on May 15, Bitwise launched the Hyperliquid ETF (BHYP) on the NYSE.
HYPE spot ETF has recorded 14 consecutive days of net inflows
As of June 2, HYPE spot ETFs have recorded 14 consecutive days of net inflows, with cumulative net inflows exceeding $136 million, absorbing approximately 0.9% of HYPE’s total market capitalization. Bitwise’s BHYP has seen net inflows of $82.96 million, becoming the world’s largest HYPE ETF.
The performance of the HYPE spot ETF since its launch demonstrates the strong interest from traditional capital in Hyperliquid. Among the 12 U.S. crypto spot ETFs, by cumulative net inflow, the HYPE spot ETF has become the fifth-largest crypto spot ETF, surpassing all other spot ETFs that launched earlier, behind only the BTC spot ETF, ETH spot ETF, XRP spot ETF, and SOL spot ETF.
Comparing the performance of BTC and ETH spot ETFs since May also highlights the market's divergence trend, as crypto asset ETF funds are being reallocated.
BTC spot ETFs have experienced 12 consecutive days of net outflows since May 15, with over $2.43 billion withdrawn in May, breaking the previous record of 8 consecutive days of net outflows set at the beginning of 2025; ETH spot ETFs have seen 16 consecutive days of net outflows since May 11, with over $540 million withdrawn in May. Meanwhile, VanEck’s BNB ETF (VBNB), launched on Nasdaq on May 28, has recorded four consecutive days with no net inflows.
During this cycle, institutional and traditional capital demand for exposure to ETFs on BTC and ETH has clearly cooled, while HYPE has increasingly attracted their interest, with FOMO levels even surpassing those seen during the initial launch of spot BTC and ETH ETFs.
HYPE spot ETF has absorbed nearly 1% of HYPE's market cap within two weeks of launch, surpassing the initial performance of BTC and ETH spot ETFs on a market cap basis. According to SoSoValue data, BTC spot ETFs saw net inflows of $1.46 billion in their first two weeks, absorbing only about 0.2% of BTC's market cap at the time; ETH spot ETFs experienced net outflows of approximately $400 million in the same period; while SOL spot ETFs recorded net inflows of about $380 million, absorbing only around 0.47% of SOL's market cap at the time.
Sustained inflows into the HYPE spot ETF have provided solid support for HYPE's price.
Double support from HYPE buying pressure offsets unlock selling pressure
In addition to ETFs, Hyperliquid's protocol revenue is also a significant support for HYPE buying pressure.
In early 2025, Hyperliquid introduced the Assistance Fund (AF) mechanism, automatically directing 97% of protocol trading fees (including perps and spot) to the AF system address for continuous HYPE buybacks. Later, this fee allocation was increased to 99%, enabling HYPE to effectively capture Hyperliquid protocol value and serving as a key price support for HYPE.
Hyperliquid's daily protocol revenue ranges between $10 million and $30 million, and since the implementation of the AF mechanism, over $1.1 billion worth of HYPE has been repurchased. Although the cumulative net inflow into the HYPE spot ETF has not matched that of AF, its growth rate is rapid, having reached one-tenth of AF's repurchase volume in just half a month, with a single-day net inflow peak of $31.62 million on May 29.
Now, the addition of the HYPE spot ETF will provide dual support for HYPE, offsetting the selling pressure from team token unlocks.
Starting in January 2026, official regulations mandate that team token unlocks will occur in a single monthly release on the 6th of each month. On June 6, tokens worth $38.7 million will also be unlocked in a single release, but this may not create significant selling pressure in the market.
Another important characteristic of ETF buying is that the underlying investors may not understand tokenomics or have ever directly interacted with DeFi protocols—they simply want exposure to HYPE. As a result, ETF investors are less sensitive to token unlocks; as long as the project’s fundamentals don’t undergo drastic changes, token unlocks won’t suppress buying pressure.
Meanwhile, more HYPE spot ETFs will be launched in the future. On June 2, Grayscale submitted an S-1 amendment for the Hyperliquid Staking ETF, providing approximately 2 million HYPE as seed capital investment. The Hyperliquid ETF ticker is Grayscale Hyperliquid Staking ETF (HYPG), and trading will officially begin on June 4.
HYPE will see deeper liquidity, stronger institutional participation, and continued incremental buying pressure.
Are institutions more FOMO-driven than retail investors?
Institutions are no less FOMO-driven toward HYPE than retail investors, publicly expressing bullish views on HYPE while using real money to push its price higher.
a16z may have become the largest external holder of HYPE
Since August 2025, a16z has entered a large-scale accumulation mode for HYPE. According to monitoring by crypto analyst Aunt Ai @ai_9684xtpa, a16z may now be the sixth-largest on-chain holder of HYPE and the largest external holder. The top five addresses on the HYPE chain all belong to Hyperliquid’s own ecosystem projects (the fifth being Kinetiq, a staking protocol), while the sixth address belongs to a16z and holds 3.095 million HYPE, valued at over $223 million.
But this is not the only HYPE holding address for a16z; on-chain data shows that a16z continues to buy and accumulate HYPE through multiple associated addresses.
On May 28, crypto analyst Ai Yi @ai_9684xtpa monitored that the a16z-associated address starting with 0x4c6 accumulated withdrawals of 253,947.43 HYPE from multiple exchanges and market makers, at an average withdrawal price of approximately $59.20; on May 30, Lookonchain detected that the a16z-associated address starting with 0xb5E purchased an additional 226,121 HYPE, and since April 14, this address has accumulated a total purchase of 3.9 million HYPE at an average buying price of approximately $49.40.
In addition to a16z, Galaxy Digital is also accumulating HYPE. On June 3, according to Lookonchain monitoring, Galaxy Digital withdrew 179,000 HYPE from Coinbase, valued at approximately $12.62 million. On May 21, another associated wallet of Galaxy Digital purchased 158,100 HYPE, valued at approximately $8.8 million.
Institutions no longer view HYPE as a typical meme coin; Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, wrote that HYPE is not just a meme coin but a "second-generation" cryptocurrency, as it features real value capture, buybacks, and institutional demand.
Meanwhile, institutions have elevated Hyperliquid’s positioning from a Perp DEX to a blockchain financial infrastructure platform. In its report, Grayscale states that Hyperliquid could potentially challenge traditional derivatives trading and exchange systems in the future, growing into a “financial services giant.”
HYPE DAT has been selected for the Russell 3000 Index
As the U.S. stock market's interest in DAT concepts cools and the sector leader Strategy begins selling its coins, the price of HYPE continues to rise, resulting in sustained paper profits for DAT companies betting on HYPE. （Related reading:DAT Failed? Public Companies Betting on HYPE Realize $1.25 Billion in Paper Profits）
Of particular note is Hyperliquid Strategies (NASDAQ: PURR). According to data from its official website, it currently holds 22.3 million HYPE tokens, with a position value of $1.617 billion. In its earnings report released in early May, Hyperliquid Strategies also disclosed that, as of Q1 2026, it repurchased approximately 3 million shares for $10.5 million, at an average cost of $3.42 per share.
On May 22, FTSE Russell announced the preliminary list for the June 2026 reconstitution of the Russell 3000 Index, with PURR appearing on the addition list and expected to take effect on June 26.
PURR has been added to the Russell 3000 Index.
The Russell 3000 Index is also one of the most comprehensive stock indices for the U.S. stock market, covering approximately the 3,000 largest U.S. publicly traded companies, effectively encompassing the entire U.S. equity market. It undergoes a major rebalancing each June. A significant amount of index funds, pension funds, and ETFs track this index, with FTSE Russell disclosing that approximately $10.6 trillion in assets use the Russell U.S. Index as a benchmark.
If PURR is truly added to the Russell 3000 Index, it will not only gain passive fund allocation but also see increased visibility. To help investors gain more HYPE exposure, they may eventually emulate Strategy’s “leveraged crypto buying” model, becoming another solid buying support for HYPE.