HYPE hits all-time high as institutional ETF inflows exceed $100 million

Overview

In May 2026, Hyperliquid's native token, HYPE, continuously reached new all-time highs, peaking at $73.48 and pushing its market cap above $150 billion, briefly surpassing Dogecoin to become the ninth-largest crypto asset globally. Concurrently, the spot HYPE ETFs from Bitwise and 21Shares, listed in the US, attracted over $100 million in net inflows within just 10 trading days, setting a record for all altcoin ETF launches in 2026. Grayscale has also subsequently filed an application. This article will break down the multiple driving forces behind HYPE's recent rally, assess the risk factors, and provide reference information for potential investors.

Key Takeaways

HYPE hit an all-time high of $73.48 on May 31, 2026, with year-to-date gains exceeding 146%

The Bitwise BHYP ETF was listed on the New York Stock Exchange on May 15, with AUM quickly surpassing $62.9 million, becoming the world's largest HYPE ETF

The combined net inflows for 21Shares THYP and Bitwise BHYP exceeded $100 million in just 10 trading days

Grayscale submitted its fourth amended application with a seed investment of approximately $115 million, officially entering the race for the HYPE ETF market

CFTC approval of the first regulated perpetual contract in the US directly benefits Hyperliquid's regulatory compliance path

The protocol's annualized revenue is approximately $800 million to $1 billion, with about 97%-99% of fee revenue used for repurchasing and burning HYPE tokens

Why HYPE Reached New All-Time Highs Now

Multiple On-Chain Metrics Simultaneously Hit Highs

According to a Coinpedia report, HYPE's recent rally is not purely sentiment-driven but has solid fundamental backing. On-chain data for the Hyperliquid platform has hit all-time highs: HyperEVM cumulative transaction fees have surpassed 295,800, total on-chain trading volume has exceeded $4.15 trillion, and the protocol's cumulative revenue has topped $1.187 billion.

Hyperliquid's business model is unique: the protocol uses approximately 97%-99% of trading fees to continuously buy back and burn HYPE tokens via open market repurchases. This means the higher the platform's trading volume, the more compressed HYPE's circulating supply becomes. An analysis by CryptoSlate notes that Hyperliquid's buyback model directly converts volume growth into supply compression, and the concurrent competition among three ETF products for the limited circulating supply has further amplified this mechanism's effect.

CFTC Formally Opens US Perpetual Contract Market

Another key catalyst for HYPE's rally came from the regulatory front. CFTC Chairman Mike Selig formally approved the first regulated perpetual contract in the US, explicitly characterizing this move as bringing crypto perpetuals "into regulated exchanges, implementing customer protections and market integrity." This decision opens the door for Hyperliquid to collaborate with US institutions within a compliant framework. A report by news.bitcoin.com lists this as one of the core drivers of the recent price breakout.

Arthur Hayes: HYPE's Market Cap Should Surpass Solana

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes publicly stated on June 1, 2026, that HYPE's market cap should "at least" surpass Solana's. This assertion sparked widespread discussion in the market, further strengthening bullish sentiment. Additionally, according to the latest updates compiled by CoinMarketCap, HYPE surpassed Dogecoin in late May to become the ninth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap.

ETF Race: Institutional Money is Repricing HYPE

Bitwise BHYP: The World's Largest HYPE ETF

Bitwise Asset Management officially launched the Bitwise Hyperliquid ETF (BHYP) on the New York Stock Exchange on May 15, 2026. It is one of the earliest spot HYPE ETFs listed in the US and the only one that stakes internally. Bitwise, through its subsidiary Bitwise Onchain Solutions, conducts proprietary staking of its HYPE holdings, providing holders with additional staking yield exposure.

BHYP charges a management fee of 0.34% but waives all fees on the first $500 million in AUM for the initial month. More notably, Bitwise has committed to using 10% of its management fee revenue to repurchase HYPE tokens, deeply aligning its interests with the Hyperliquid community.

According to a report by Bitcoin World, as of May 26, 2026, BHYP's AUM reached $62.9 million, with an average daily trading volume of $19.8 million and cumulative net inflows of $56.9 million, making it the largest HYPE ETF globally. Combined with data from ETFdb, BHYP's AUM subsequently exceeded $60 million. Together with 21Shares' THYP, the total US-listed assets under management for these two products is approaching $120 million.

21Shares THYP: Earliest Listed, Trading Volume Continues to Climb

21Shares became the first to list THYP on Nasdaq on May 12, 2026, with a management fee of 0.30%. It stakes via Figment and distributes proceeds at a 70/30 ratio, with the first distribution scheduled for June 2026. Bloomberg ETF Senior Analyst Eric Balchunas noted in a report by The Block that THYP's trading volume has grown steadily since its launch, with one trading day seeing volume roughly 8 times higher than its debut day. He called it "a strong signal that organic demand is real."

Grayscale Enters with $115 Million Seed Funding

An exclusive report by The Block reveals that Grayscale is negotiating a seed investment of approximately 2 million HYPE tokens (about $115 million). It submitted the fourth amended application for GHYP on May 22, 2026, which was certified by Nasdaq. Grayscale characterizes Hyperliquid as a "behemoth in the financial services sector," citing approximately $800 million in revenue in 2025, $2.9 trillion in perpetual contract trading volume, and roughly $10 billion in open interest as supporting evidence.

Kairos Research data compiled by SpotedCrypto further compares the inaugural performance of HYPE ETFs: adjusted for market cap share, HYPE ETFs absorbed 1.04% of the token's market cap in their first 10 trading days. This is 1.76 times the ratio seen for Bitcoin ETFs (0.59%) during the same period and 3.3 times the ratio for Solana ETFs (0.31%) – setting a historical record for the launch phase of US spot crypto ETFs.

Hyperliquid Fundamentals: Does Protocol Strength Support the Valuation?

Hyperliquid operates on its own proprietary Layer-1 blockchain, using the HyperBFT consensus mechanism. It can process approximately 200,000 orders per second with sub-second latency, and its order book is fully on-chain. As of early 2026, Hyperliquid's market share in the perpetual DEX space has increased from 36.4% to 44%, making it the only major platform among its peers to achieve positive market share growth. An analysis by yellow.com documents this trend.

Data cited by Grayscale indicates that Hyperliquid generated approximately $800 million in protocol revenue in 2025, with an estimated annualized revenue of $800 million to $1 billion in 2026. The protocol has also launched HIP-3 (allowing any user to create perpetual contract markets) and HIP-4 (introducing on-chain prediction markets), continuously expanding its total addressable market. In March 2026, S&P Dow Jones Indices authorized Trade[XYZ] to launch an S&P 500 perpetual contract for non-US qualified investors on Hyperliquid, marking mainstream financial institutions' recognition of Hyperliquid's infrastructure.

Looking to trade HYPE on MEXC? The platform offers deep liquidity and a range of trading tools suitable for investors with varying risk appetites.

Risk Factors: Hidden Dangers Not to Be Ignored

Token Unlock Pressure: Data from Tokenomist shows that approximately 9.92 million HYPE tokens (about 2.54% of circulating supply, valued at roughly $684 million) are scheduled to be unlocked for core contributors on June 6, 2026. This represents the largest single unlock event in the near term. While the absolute percentage is relatively manageable, the timing is sensitive and requires close monitoring of subsequent market reactions.

Regulatory Uncertainty: While the CFTC's new policy opens a compliance path for Hyperliquid, whether the protocol's current IP geoblocking measures meet regulatory compliance requirements remains debatable. A research report by yellow.com points out that IP blocking at the protocol level does not constitute sufficient compliance basis under the CFTC's historical enforcement standards, and this legal exposure cannot be ignored.

Competitive Landscape: As traditional derivatives exchanges and CEXs gradually enter the on-chain derivatives space, whether Hyperliquid can maintain its first-mover advantage remains an open question.

How to Participate in the HYPE Rally

For investors looking to directly hold HYPE spot, MEXC offers HYPE spot and futures trading with a wide range of trading pairs and deep liquidity. For institutional or individual investors preferring compliant channels, BHYP (NYSE) and THYP (Nasdaq) are the two currently listed spot ETFs. The SEC's decision on Grayscale's GHYP is the next key observation point.

Exclusive Insights from the MEXC Crypto Pulse Research Team

What makes the current HYPE rally unique is that it isn't driven by a single narrative, but by a confluence of fundamentals, regulatory catalysts, and institutional capital. Historically, demand increments following most altcoin ETF launches have been quite limited. However, the speed at which HYPE ETFs absorbed 1.04% of the token's market cap within 10 trading days indicates strong market recognition of the "on-chain financial infrastructure" narrative for Hyperliquid, rather than mere speculative activity.

Notably, the protocol's buyback mechanism creates a unique positive feedback loop: higher trading volume leads to larger buybacks, increasing token scarcity, which in turn attracts more traffic. This structure is akin to a "stock buyback + high dividend" combination in traditional finance, which is extremely rare in the crypto market.

However, we believe several points warrant cautious examination: First, the large token unlock on June 6 represents the most direct short-term downside risk. Second, whether capital inflows can be sustained after the ETF fee waiver period ends is a key indicator of genuine institutional demand. Third, the CFTC's regulatory stance remains the biggest variable for the protocol's long-term development. Investors should make decisions based on their own risk tolerance, fully understanding the risks involved.

FAQ

Q1: What is Hyperliquid (HYPE)?

Hyperliquid is a Layer-1 blockchain primarily designed for decentralized derivatives trading. It utilizes its proprietary HyperBFT consensus mechanism, supports perpetual contracts, spot trading, and native asset issuance, and is characterized by high throughput and a fully on-chain order book.

Q2: What is the difference between BHYP and THYP?

Bitwise's BHYP, listed on the NYSE on May 15, 2026, charges a 0.34% management fee (waived for the first month), uses proprietary staking, and allocates 10% of fee revenue to repurchase HYPE. 21Shares' THYP, listed on Nasdaq on May 12, charges a 0.30% management fee, uses third-party staking via Figment, distributes staking yield at a 70/30 ratio, with the first distribution expected in June 2026.

Q3: When will Grayscale's HYPE ETF be approved?

As of this writing, Grayscale has submitted its fourth amended S-1 filing, which has been certified by Nasdaq, and is awaiting final SEC approval. The filing also includes a seed investment arrangement of approximately $115 million. No official announcement has been made regarding the specific approval date.

Q4: How much selling pressure will the HYPE token unlock create?

According to Tokenomist data, approximately 9.92 million HYPE tokens will be unlocked for core contributors on June 6, 2026, representing about 2.54% of the circulating supply. While the absolute percentage is relatively manageable, the unlock represents a value of approximately $684 million at current prices, warranting investor attention.

Q5: How to buy HYPE on MEXC?

You can visit MEXC, register an account, complete KYC verification, and then search for the HYPE/USDT trading pair in the spot market to make your purchase.

Q6: What are the ways to hold HYPE?

The main avenues include: (1) Purchasing spot via centralized exchanges like MEXC; (2) Holding on the native Hyperliquid platform; (3) Gaining indirect exposure through compliant ETF channels (BHYP or THYP).

Disclaimer

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute any investment advice or financial guidance. The cryptocurrency market is highly volatile, and investors may lose their entire principal. All price data mentioned herein is based on market information at the time of writing and does not represent future performance. Please consult a qualified financial or legal advisor and carefully evaluate your own risk tolerance before making any investment decisions.