Arthur Hayes Dumps HYPE Holdings, Warns Wall Street Threatens Hyperliquid's Perps Dominance

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes disclosed on social media that he sold his entire stash of HYPE tokens one day after warning Decrypt that Wall Street and established crypto players could erode Hyperliquid's grip on crypto derivatives. Hayes, a vocal proponent of the decentralized exchange during its rally to record highs, framed the concern in cash-flow terms. "At the end of the day, this is a cash story," he said. "There will be more competition in real-world asset perps, whether that's from centralized exchanges like Binance [or] TradFi exchanges."

The protocol funnels trading fees into open-market token buybacks that permanently remove supply from circulation, a mechanism Hayes said leaves Hyperliquid uniquely exposed to any sudden loss in market share. On X, he said he "just dumped" his HYPE alongside another digital asset, citing an expected uptick in energy prices, a string of "oxygen-sucking" IPOs, and an about-face by President Trump on AI. "Time to take profit," Hayes added, less than two months after publishing an essay arguing HYPE "is going to $150 by August 2026."

HYPE traded around $59 on Sunday, down 14% over the past seven days, according to CoinGecko, after notching a fresh all-time high above $75 the prior week. Hyperliquid debuted in 2023 and began supporting derivatives for real-world assets, including gold and silver, through an October upgrade. The platform's official X account said Tuesday that the total value of outstanding positions tied to such markets had reached $3 billion.

Even as he exited his position, Hayes praised Hyperliquid's weekend liquidity, particularly for oil contracts. "Perennial crypto haters had to acknowledge that price action and price discovery for these key variables happen over the weekend on a crypto trading platform," he said. "I think this is a watershed moment, and what caused people to wake up." A Dune dashboard shows Hyperliquid has bought back 26.6 million HYPE and permanently removed 579,603 HYPE from circulation—roughly $1.56 billion worth at current prices. Hayes said the platform has prompted traditional-market firms to engage with Hyperliquid, study its 24/7 model, and ask regulators whether U.S. exchanges can offer comparable perpetual futures products.