Hyperliquid’s HYPE token, one of the best-performing crypto assets this year, plummeted following its record run as veteran bull Arthur Hayes revealed he had sold his entire position just days after predicting much higher prices.
“I just got rid of my entire HYPE and NEAR position,” Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX and chief investment officer at family office Maelstrom, wrote on X.
The sell-off brought HYPE back to $67 from all-time highs near $75, although the token is still 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.
“It’s time to make a profit,” he wrote.
The abrupt departure sparked a backlash in crypto circles because Hayes had been among Hyperliquid’s most vocal supporters. Just days earlier, he reiterated a $150 price target for HYPE and, in a March essay, laid out a roadmap for how the token could reach that level.
Arthur Cheong, founder of cryptocurrency 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.
Cryptocurrency 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 the biggest winners in cryptocurrencies
Hyperliquid and its token, HYPE, have been performing strongly in recent weeks as the broader crypto market remained under pressure.
As bitcoin fell back near its 2026 lows of $60,000, HYPE hit new all-time highs and remains up 166% year-to-date, even with Thursday’s drop.
The project operates a blockchain-based perpetual futures exchange, allowing users to trade cryptocurrencies and other assets through a transparent order book rather than relying on a centralized location.
The platform has rapidly gained market share, clearing around $40 billion in weekly felon volume and $1 billion in spot assets, and has become one of the closely monitored venues for weekend commodity prices and pre-IPO stocks.
HYPE rally overheated
But the 100% gain in one month took the move too far from the project’s fundamentals, said Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research.
In a report earlier this week, Thieled said Hyperliquid remained “one of the most impressive businesses in crypto,” citing its roughly 77% gross margins, fully on-chain trading infrastructure, and token buyback program funded by protocol revenues.
According to Thielen, at recent highs near $75, HYPE was trading at about 25 times projected fee income, close to the highest levels seen over the past year. Meanwhile, the protocol’s revenue remains well below its peak, and a large 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 ratio has changed.”
The long-term bullish case remains compelling, he said. If business activity recovers toward previous highs and new products attract more users, HYPE could eventually justify significantly higher prices.
