Original |Odaily Planet Daily(@OdailyChina)
Author|Golem(@web3_golem)
"HYPE should at least surpass SOL before the end of this bull market", BitMEX Co-Founder and the most devoted "H Guard" Arthur Hayes was the first to publicly voice this expectation in late May, having previously stated multiple times that HYPE would rise to $150.
The reason Arthur Hayes "stepped on one to praise another" stemmed from Multicoin Capital former Co-Founder and "S Guard" Kyle Samani first attacking Hyperliquid in the community, after which the "verbal sparring" between the two escalated, ultimately ending with a $100,000 bet. The wager was that HYPE would outperform all top-ten tokens by market cap for the remainder of the year(For details on their feud, read:Solana and Hyperliquid's Most Devoted Guards Got into a Spat).
In recent days, HYPE has continued to rally, reaching a new all-time high of $75. Investors looking to get in are experiencing "fear of heights," with some even beginning to try shorting. This article by Odaily Planet Daily will analyze the changes in HYPE's fundamentals from the perspective of market buying and selling pressure for readers' reference.
The Strongest Altcoin ETF in History Debuts
There are currently two HYPE spot ETFs on the market. On May 12th, 21Shares launched the first Hyperliquid ETF (THYP) on Nasdaq; on May 15th, Bitwise also launched a Hyperliquid ETF (BHYP) on the NYSE.
HYPE Spot ETF Records 14 Consecutive Days of Net Inflows
As of June 2nd, the HYPE spot ETF has achieved net inflows for 14 consecutive days since its launch, with cumulative net inflows exceeding $136 million, absorbing approximately 0.9% of HYPE's total market capitalization. Among them, Bitwise's BHYP had net inflows of $82.96 million, becoming the world's largest HYPE ETF.
The performance of the HYPE spot ETF post-launch clearly indicates the enthusiasm of traditional capital for Hyperliquid. Among the 12 US crypto spot ETFs, ranked by cumulative total net inflows, the HYPE spot ETF has become the 5th largest crypto spot ETF, trailing only BTC, ETH, XRP, and SOL spot ETFs, far surpassing other crypto spot ETFs that launched earlier.
Comparing the performance of BTC and ETH spot ETFs since May further highlights the market's divergence trend; capital for crypto asset ETFs is being reallocated.
BTC spot ETFs have seen net outflows for 12 consecutive days since May 15th, with May outflows exceeding $2.43 billion, breaking the record of 8 consecutive days of net outflows set in early 2025. ETH spot ETFs have seen net outflows for 16 consecutive days since May 11th, with May outflows exceeding $540 million. Meanwhile, the BNB ETF (VBNB) launched by VanEck on Nasdaq on May 28th has even recorded no net inflows for 4 consecutive days.
In this cycle, institutional and traditional capital's demand for exposure to BTC and ETH ETFs has noticeably cooled, while HYPE's attractiveness to them has gradually increased, with the FOMO level even surpassing the initial data from the launch of BTC and ETH spot ETFs.
Within two weeks of launch, the HYPE spot ETF has absorbed nearly 1% of HYPE's market cap. Calculated by market cap proportion, this exceeds the launch performance of BTC and ETH spot ETFs over the same period. According to SoSoValue data, BTC spot ETFs had net inflows of $1.46 billion in the first two weeks, absorbing only about 0.2% of BTC's market cap at the time; ETH spot ETFs even saw net outflows of about $400 million in the first two weeks; while SOL spot ETFs had net inflows of about $380 million in the first two weeks, absorbing only about 0.47% of SOL's market cap at the time.
The continuous inflows into the HYPE spot ETF have formed a solid foundation of support for HYPE's price.
Dual Support for HYPE Buying Pressure, Offsetting Unlock Selling Pressure
Besides ETFs, Hyperliquid's protocol revenue is also a crucial support for HYPE's buying pressure.
As early as the beginning of 2025, Hyperliquid introduced the Assistance Fund (AF) mechanism, stipulating that 97% of protocol transaction fees (perps + spot, etc.) automatically go into the AF system address for continuous HYPE buybacks. The fee ratio was later adjusted to 99%. This mechanism allows HYPE to effectively capture Hyperliquid's protocol value and also serves as a key support for HYPE's price.
Hyperliquid's daily protocol revenue ranges between $1-3 million. Since the AF mechanism's implementation, it has cumulatively bought back over $1.1 billion worth of HYPE. Although the cumulative net inflows of the HYPE spot ETF are not as high as the AF's buybacks, their growth rate is fast. In just half a month, net inflows have caught up to one-tenth of the AF's buyback volume, with the single-day peak net inflow reaching $31.62 million on May 29th.
Now, with the addition of HYPE spot ETFs, HYPE will form dual support, thereby offsetting the selling pressure brought by team token unlocks.
Since January 2026, the official rule for team token unlocks has adopted a monthly one-time unlock method, fixed on the 6th of each month. On June 6th, tokens worth $38.7 million will be unlocked at once, but this may not create significant selling pressure in the market.
Another important characteristic of ETF buying is that the investors behind them may not understand tokenomics or even have directly operated DeFi protocols; they simply want exposure to HYPE. Therefore, ETF investors are also less sensitive to token unlocks. As long as the project's fundamentals don't change drastically, token unlocks will not suppress buying power.
Simultaneously, more HYPE spot ETFs will be launched in the future. On June 2nd, Grayscale submitted a revised S-1 filing for a Hyperliquid Staking ETF, providing approximately 2 million HYPE as seed capital investment. The Hyperliquid ETF code is Grayscale Hyperliquid Staking ETF (HYPG), and it is set to officially begin trading on June 4th.
HYPE will welcome deeper liquidity, stronger institutional participation, and continuously generated incremental buying pressure.
Are Institutions More FOMO Than Retail?
Institutions' FOMO towards HYPE is no less than that of retail investors. They publicly express bullish views on HYPE while using real money to fuel HYPE's rise.
a16z May Have Become the Largest External HYPE Holding Institution
Starting in August 2025, a16z began its large-scale accumulation mode for HYPE. According to monitoring by crypto analyst Ai Yi @ai_9684xtpa, a16z may have become the sixth-largest holding entity on the HYPE chain and the largest external holding entity. The top 5 addresses on the HYPE chain belong to Hyperliquid's own ecosystem projects (the fifth being the Kinetiq staking protocol), while the sixth address is under a16z's control. This address holds 3.095 million HYPE, worth over $223 million.
However, this is not a16z's only HYPE holding address. On-chain data shows a16z has also been continuously buying and accumulating HYPE through multiple associated addresses.
On May 28th, crypto analyst Ai Yi @ai_9684xtpa monitored that the 0x4c6... address associated with a16z withdrew a cumulative 253,947.43 HYPE from multiple exchanges and market maker addresses, with an average withdrawal price of approximately $59.2. On May 30th, Lookonchain monitored that another a16z-associated address, 0xb5E..., bought another 226,121 HYPE. Since April 14th, this address has cumulatively bought 3.9 million HYPE with an average purchase price of approximately $49.4.
Besides a16z, Galaxy Digital is also accumulating HYPE. On June 3rd, according to Lookonchain monitoring, Galaxy Digital withdrew 179,000 HYPE from Coinbase, worth approximately $12.62 million. On May 21st, another associated wallet also bought 158,100 HYPE, worth approximately $8.8 million.
Institutions have long stopped viewing HYPE as an ordinary meme/shitcoin. Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan stated that HYPE is not just another altcoin, but a "second generation" cryptocurrency because it possesses real value capture, buybacks, and institutional demand.
Simultaneously, institutions have elevated Hyperliquid's positioning from a Perp DEX to a blockchain financial infrastructure platform. Grayscale's mid-year report stated that Hyperliquid might even challenge traditional derivatives trading and exchange systems in the future and grow into a "financial services giant."
HYPE DAT Company Selected for Russell 3000 Index
While the DAT concept in US stocks cooled down and the sector leader Strategy also began selling coins, DAT companies betting on HYPE continued to float in profits as HYPE's price rose. (Related reading:DAT Failed? Public Company Betting on HYPE Sees $1.25 Billion Floating Profit)
The most notable among them is Hyperliquid Strategies (NASDAQ:PURR). According to official website data, it currently holds 22.3 million HYPE, with a holding value of $1.617 billion. Hyperliquid Strategies' financial report released in early May also disclosed that as of Q1 2026, they invested $10.5 million to repurchase approximately 3 million shares of stock, with an average cost of $3.42 per share.
On May 22nd, FTSE Russell announced the preliminary list for the June 2026 Russell 3000 Index reconstitution. PURR appeared on the addition list for the Russell 3000 Index and is expected to take effect on June 26th.
PURR appears on the addition list for the Russell 3000 Index
The Russell 3000 Index is also one of the broadest US stock market indices, covering approximately the 3000 largest publicly listed companies in the US, essentially encompassing the entire US stock market. It undergoes a major adjustment every June. Currently, a large number of index funds, pension funds, and ETFs track this index. FTSE Russell discloses that approximately $10.6 trillion in assets use Russell US indices as a benchmark.
If PURR is indeed included in the Russell 3000 Index, it will not only receive passive allocation from funds but also gain significantly higher visibility. To help investors obtain more HYPE exposure, they might also emulate Strategy's "financing to buy coins" model in the future, thereby becoming another solid source of buying pressure for HYPE.
