While the cryptocurrency market is generally sluggish, the HYPE token from the Hyperliquid platform has posted an impressive 60% gain in recent days. How can we explain this surge at the start of the year?
The HYPE token surges 60%: Is the specter of token unlocks fading?
Since its launch, the Hyperliquid perpetuals platform has been shaking up the decentralized finance (DeFi) and cryptocurrency trading sectors by establishing itself as a clear competitor to the industry’s centralized exchanges (CEXs), with a market now considered “the most liquid for perpetual contracts on TradFi assets,” according to its founder and CEO, Jeff Yan.
However, this success has been significantly eroded in recent months, with the price of HYPE plummeting by more than 65% from its September peak just below the symbolic $60 mark. The reason: the specter of a massive token unlock scheduled for early January, which raised fears of significant selling pressure.
However, the situation looks quite different as January draws to a close, with a 60% rally over the last few days emerging as a counter-trend response from the market.
Hyperliquid’s HYPE token surges 60% in recent days
And for good reason: investors’ fears have ultimately “proved to be unfounded,” according to a comprehensive analysis published by Ericonomic on X, following what he describes as “one of the biggest sources of confusion surrounding HYPE.”
Most trackers still report 9.9 million HYPE tokens unlocked each month, which led many market participants to assume a constant monthly selling pressure of approximately $200 million. This assumption turned out to be incorrect. Unlocked does not mean distributed. Distributed does not mean sold. And sold does not mean they are sold on the open market.
Eroconomic
And for good reason: investors’ fears ultimately “proved to be incorrect,” according to the comprehensive analysis published by Ericonomic on the X network, following what it describes as “one of the biggest sources of confusion surrounding HYPE.”
Most trackers still show 9.9 million HYPE tokens unlocked each month, which has led many market participants to assume a constant monthly selling pressure of approximately $200 million. This assumption has proven incorrect. Unlocked does not mean distributed. Distributed does not mean sold. And sold does not mean they are sold on the open market.
Eroconomic
Open interest on HIP-3 skyrocketing
At the same time, activity on the Hyperliquid platform is currently picking up again, following a notable decline in the final months of 2025.
The main reason for this resurgence in activity? Open interest (OI) in its HIP-3 market, which “is hitting new ATHs every week,” according to Hyperliquid’s official X account, and currently stands at over $1 billion—up from $790 million on January 26… and $260 million one month ago.
HIP-3 open interest on Hyperliquid exceeds $1 billion
This activity—“recently driven by a surge in commodities trading”—enabled its daily volume to surpass the symbolic $2 billion threshold on January 28, with 90% of that volume coming from TradeXYZ, the perpetual trading interface on Hyperliquid.
This development appears to have excited analysts at Tom Lee’s investment fund, Fundstrat, who view it as “an evolution beyond a simple crypto platform toward a broader on-chain market infrastructure.”
Hyperliquid’s momentum could be more than just a crypto rally. With HIP-3 enabling multi-asset expansion and a weaker dollar acting as a tailwind, investors should focus on (…) its valuation as a broader market infrastructure rather than simply as a crypto beta. (…) Continued innovation and fundamental traction support keeping HYPE in our model portfolios.
Fundstrat
HYPE Listing on Kraken and Coinbase
With these impressive results, Hyperliquid is undoubtedly establishing itself as a must-have platform in the crypto perpetual markets sector, to the point where its HYPE token is gaining access to certain leading—and competing—exchanges.
In fact, the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has been offering HYPE trading since January 28 to support the development of “the blockchain that will house all of finance,” as envisioned by Hyperliquid.
At the same time, the U.S. giant Coinbase announced “the addition of Hyperliquid’s HYPE to its roadmap,” with a launch to be officially confirmed once “sufficient market-making support and technical infrastructure” are available.
