Hyperliquid (HYPE) Surges 5.8% Amid NFT Frenzy and Institutional Validation: What’s Next?
Major developments in the Hyperliquid ecosystem are driving renewed momentum as HYPE holds at $47, marking a 5.8% gain in 24 hours
Quick overview
- Hyperliquid is gaining significant attention from institutional investors, with ARK Invest's Cathie Wood comparing it to the early days of Solana.
- The recent Hypurr NFT airdrop has generated substantial market activity, with some NFTs selling for as much as $467,000.
- Hyperliquid is enhancing its infrastructure with new features like permissionless spot quote assets and the HyperEVM programmability layer.
- Despite its progress, Hyperliquid faces challenges from competitors and concerns over an upcoming $12 billion token unlock that could impact market stability.
Hyperliquid is getting a lot of interest from big institutions. For example, ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood compared the DEX that focuses on perpetuals to Solana’s early days. In a recent interview for the Master Investor podcast, Wood said that Hyperliquid is “the new kid on the block” and that it “reminds me of Solana in the earlier days.” This comparison is especially important because Solana has grown into a top-tier blockchain with a large market cap.
Wood made it clear that ARK Invest is now exposed to crypto through Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. However, her public recognition of Hyperliquid as “one to watch” is a significant endorsement from one of the most important institutional voices in crypto. This endorsement comes at a time when decentralized exchanges are becoming more popular with retail traders and semi-professional quants because of the appealing incentives they offer, such as airdrops, minimal fees, and fast execution rates.
Hyperliquid’s Hypurr NFT Airdrop Creates Market Sensation
Over the weekend, the Hyperliquid ecosystem went through a huge change as 4,600 Hypurr NFTs were sent out on the HyperEVM. The collection has caused a lot of activity in the market, with floor prices going up to about $68,700 per NFT. Hypurr #21, which has the very uncommon “Knight Ghost Armor” and “Knight Helm Ghost” qualities, sold for $467,000, which was the most amazing sale.
The NFT announcement showed how strong the platform’s community is, with trading volume over $44.6 million in 24 hours. These NFTs will be given out mostly to people who took part in the Genesis Event starting in November 2024. They are a way to thank early supporters who helped Hyperliquid flourish. But there was some controversy around the airdrop. Blockchain detective ZachXBT said that a bad actor grabbed eight NFTs from wallets that had been hacked, making about $400,000.
Technical Infrastructure Expansion Through HyperEVM and USDH
Hyperliquid is making significant improvements to its infrastructure in addition to the NFT show. The platform introduced permissionless spot quote assets on the mainnet. Native Markets used USDH as the first permissionless quote asset. Hyperliquid’s native stablecoin, USDH, is backed by cash and US Treasuries. It quickly made HYPE/USDH trading pairings available, which will help the platform compete better in the changing DEX scene.
The HyperEVM programmability layer, which came out in February 2025, connects Hyperliquid’s Layer-1 infrastructure with smart contracts through HyperBFT consensus. This architecture gives developers access to HyperCore liquidity while they work on apps like lending markets, vault tokenization protocols, and liquid staking tokens.
Market Headwinds and Stability Concerns
Hyperliquid is making progress, but it still has a lot of problems to deal with. Recently, the rival exchange Aster, which is funded by YZi Labs, had more weekly trading volume than Hyperliquid after its token launch. This made the competition in the perpetual futures DEX market even stronger. PeckShield, a blockchain security company, also said that kHYPE (Kinetiq Staked HYPE) had a temporary depegging event from September 24 to 27, when it dropped to 0.8802 against WHYPE before bouncing again.
Analysts are also worried about the $12 billion HYPE token unlock that is coming up soon. It might make people want to sell and make the market feel bad.
Hyperliquid (HYPE) Price Prediction and Technical Outlook
At $47, HYPE is still doing well even if it has to deal with competition and doubts about the stability of its derivative markets. The token’s little 5.8% rise shows that people are cautiously optimistic while the market processes recent news.
- Short-term outlook (1–3 months): If Hyperliquid’s new stablecoin infrastructure works well and developers keep working on HyperEVM, HYPE might test resistance levels between $55 and $65. However, the next token unlock poses a lot of risk to the downside, and if a lot of selling pressure builds up, prices might drop to $35-$40.
- Medium-term outlook (6–12 months): HYPE might rise to $75–90 if it regains its position as the leader in trading volume from its competitors, thanks to support from people like Cathie Wood and the expanding use of DEX. The success of USDH adoption and ongoing community involvement through projects like the Hypurr NFT collection will be very important.
$42 is the most important technical level to keep an eye on because it is a major support level. If the price drops below this level, it might cause more selling to happen quickly, pushing the price down below $35. On the other hand, if the price stays above $50 for a while, it would reinforce bullish momentum and open the way to prior highs.
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