Hyperliquid’s HYPE token gained 60% as a sharp uptick in staking and open interest occurred, but other DEX-related fundamentals raise questions on how long the rally can last.
* HYPE surged 60% to $34.90, fueled by institutional investor accumulation from Hyperliquid Strategies and reduced selling after staking unlocks.
* Bearish liquidations exceeding $20 million and ARK Invest’s bullish report fueled speculation despite flat perpetual volumes.
Hyperliquid (HYPE) surged to $34.90 on Wednesday, climbing from $21.80 just two days prior. The 60% rally triggered over $20 million in liquidations on bearish leveraged positions, fueling speculation of further gains toward $40. The move followed reports of a publicly listed company focused on digital asset reserves adding HYPE to its balance sheet, alongside diminished sell pressure following a large staking unlock.
X user lukecannon727 raised suspicions regarding whether the company Hyperliquid Strategies (PURR US) has been diverting flows away from market maker Flowdesk. This came after users flagged a 3.6 million HYPE accumulation initiated on December 12, 2025. The associated addresses staked the HYPE tokens a few hours after receiving them via Anchorage custody solutions.
The analysis cites another 460,000 HYPE transferred from OKX and Bybit on Tuesday and subsequently staked via Anchorage, which is consistent with Hyperliquid Strategies’ operational methods. PURR, the Nasdaq-listed digital assets treasury company, originated from a merger with Rorschach, a SPAC sponsored by venture capital firms Paradigm and Atlas Merchant Capital.
Did Hyperliquid flip Binance?
Some market participants attributed HYPE’s price gains to an increase in Hyperliquid’s onchain activity, although synthetic perpetual volumes and fees showed no significant changes. Similarly, open interest on Hyperliquid totaled $8.5 billion on Tuesday, flat from one week prior. There is little evidence of a major shift in Hyperliquid usage apart from increased activity in silver contracts.
Hyperliquid’s official X account reported an all-time high in open interest on Monday, driven by a surge in synthetic commodities volumes. The information was reposted by Hyperliquid CEO Jeff Yan, who noted that Hyperliquid’s Bitcoin futures liquidity had surpassed Binance. The analysis included a snapshot comparing the BTC perpetual futures orderbooks from Binance and Hyperliquid.
Yan’s analysis suggested that Hyperliquid has become the epicenter for “crypto price discovery,” although this assumption omits that Binance’s aggregate BTC futures open interest stands at $12.3 billion. The centralized exchange also offers monthly contracts and contracts settled in both BTC and Tether (USDT). In reality, Binance BTC open interest remains five times larger than Hyperliquid’s.
Previous HYPE sell pressure has been attributed to Continue Capital, especially after the fund manager reportedly sold 297,000 HYPE two weeks ago, according to X user murda0x. The latest large staking unlock from Continue Capital occurred on Jan. 21, totaling 1.47 million HYPE. Another 1.5 million HYPE were recently unlocked by wallets attributed to a “Tornado Cash cluster.”
An ARK Invest research report released on Jan. 22 likely played an important role in capturing investor interest. The report depicted Hyperliquid as one of “the most revenue efficient companies in the world,” using decentralized finance (DeFi) derivatives to compete directly with traditional exchanges. Analysts noted that blockchain networks are evolving into monetary assets as a function of their utility.
HYPE’s failure to sustain levels above $34 on Wednesday is not necessarily a death sentence, but odds are the recent gains resulted from one-off events, such as inflows from a digital assets reserve company and reduced sell pressure. While Hyperliquid long-term fundamentals remain solid, there is no definitive evidence that $40 is the next logical step for the HYPE token.
