Hyperliquid’s HYPE token, one of crypto’s best-performing assets this year, tumbled after its record run when longtime bull Arthur Hayes revealed he had sold his entire position just days after predicting much higher prices.
“I just dumped my entire HYPE and NEAR position,” Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX and chief investment officer at family office Maelstrom, wrote on X.
The selloff pulled HYPE back to $67 from record highs near $75, although the token is up more than 70% since mid-May.
Hayes said the decision reflected growing caution about broader markets rather than a change in his view of Hyperliquid. He pointed to rising energy prices linked to the Iran conflict, several high-profile AI IPOs expected in the coming months and his belief that financial markets could peak between now and September.
“Time to take profit,” he wrote.
The abrupt exit caused backlash in crypto circles because Hayes had been among Hyperliquid’s most vocal supporters. A few days earlier, he reiterated a $150 price target for HYPE and, in an essay in March, laid out a roadmap for how the token could reach that level.
Arthur Cheong, founder of crypto investment firm DeFiance Capital, described the move as “the epitome of a guy over-trading his position” in an X post.
Others questioned why investors continue to treat Hayes’ market calls as actionable signals.
Crypto trader TraderSZ, who has more than 683,000 followers on X, noted that Hayes had recently argued that HYPE could be among the best-performing assets of the year before announcing the sale.
One of crypto’s biggest winners
Hyperliquid and its token, HYPE, have been standout performers in the past few weeks as the broader crypto market remained under pressure.
As bitcoin fell back to near its 2026 low of $60,000, HYPE hit new highs and remains up 166% year-to-date even with Thursday’s drop.
The project operates a blockchain-based onchain perpetual futures exchange that allows users to trade cryptocurrencies and other assets through a transparent order book instead of relying on a centralized venue.
The platform has rapidly gained market share, releasing around $40 billion in weekly perp volume and $1 billion in spot assets, and has emerged as one of the closely watched venues for weekend commodity prices and pre-IPO stocks.
HYPE rally got overheated
But the 100% gain in one month put the move too far from the project’s fundamentals, noted Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research.
In a report earlier this week, Thieled said Hyperliquid remained “one of the most impressive companies in crypto,” citing its roughly 77% gross margins, full onchain trading infrastructure, and token buyback program funded by protocol revenue.
At recent highs near $75, HYPE traded at about 25 times expected fee income, near the richest levels seen over the past year, according to Thielen. Meanwhile, protocol revenue remains well below its peak, and a major token unlock scheduled for June could introduce additional selling pressure.
“We have been vocal HYPE bulls,” Thielen wrote. “But at current prices, the risk-reward has changed.”
The long-term bull case remains compelling, he said. If trading activity reverses to previous highs and new products attract more users, HYPE can ultimately justify significantly higher prices.
