Hyperliquid's native token HYPE has experienced a sharp bullish momentum, surging over 13% on May 26 to a price of around $39.9, driven by substantial whale activity and leveraged trading on the Hyperliquid decentralized exchange (DEX).
A prominent trader, James Wynn, has been actively engaging in highly leveraged trades on the platform, including closing a $1 billion Bitcoin short position that was built with 40x leverage, after sustaining a $15.87 million loss in 15 hours. Wynn's activity has increased attention around the Hyperliquid protocol, as whales have been placing billion-dollar positions and fueling strong buying pressure for the HYPE token.
The token recently concluded a bullish week marked by a 50% rally from its weekly low to high, and at press time it trades roughly 12% below its all-time high. Its open interest has hit new record highs, crossing the $1 billion mark and hovering around $1.2 billion, indicating high market participation and looming liquidation risks.
Hyperliquid’s ecosystem activity has also been robust. Token volume reached $570.5 million on a single day, far surpassing the month's lowest daily volume of $78 million. Additionally, the platform’s Total Value Locked (TVL) rose significantly from $254 million in early April to $455 million. DEX volume also skyrocketed, from $42.67 million in April to over $590 million in late May. These metrics underscore the strong demand for derivatives trading on Hyperliquid, helped by its layer 1 blockchain with low fees.
While bullish sentiment remains, some traders warn about potential pivot points and profit-taking given HYPE's current overbought status. Meanwhile, Hyperliquid suffered a recent security incident on its official X (formerly Twitter) account; however, its blockchain and internal systems remained uncompromised following a thorough investigation.