A whale holding the largest active onchain HYPE long on Hyperliquid is sitting on roughly $40 million in gains, according to Arkham Intelligence, after the token’s explosive rally turned one leveraged position into one of the most visible trades on the platform.
Arkham flagged the position as a $93 million HYPE long, leveraged roughly 4x across the trader’s account. The size makes it a major directional bet on Hyperliquid’s native token at a time when HYPE is trading near its recent highs and remains one of the strongest-performing large-cap crypto assets of the cycle.
HYPE recently traded around $66 to $67, leaving the token with a market capitalization near $17 billion. The move is striking because HYPE launched in November 2024 near single-digit levels and has since gained more than 1,500%, turning Hyperliquid from a perp DEX story into one of crypto’s most closely watched Layer 1 and fee-capture assets.
The whale’s unrealized profit is not locked in until the position is closed or reduced. Leveraged longs can unwind quickly if price breaks lower, especially on an exchange where large traders, liquidation levels and funding conditions are visible to market participants.
Hyperliquid Revenue Keeps Supporting HYPE
The whale trade lands during a strong fee cycle for Hyperliquid. The platform recently generated nearly $79 million in 30-day fees, putting Hyperliquid ahead of Ethereum, Solana and BNB Chain combined on that snapshot.
That revenue backdrop is central to HYPE’s market structure. Hyperliquid is not only selling a general Layer 1 story. Its main business is high-volume perpetual futures and spot trading, where platform activity feeds directly into the token’s valuation debate through revenue, buybacks, open interest and liquidity.
Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan has also argued that Hyperliquid remains undervalued because of the link between trading fees and HYPE demand. That argument has helped separate HYPE from many altcoins whose rallies depend mostly on narrative, unlock cycles or ecosystem speculation.
ETF filings have added another layer. Grayscale has filed for a spot Hyperliquid ETF, joining earlier filings from Bitwise and 21Shares, with proposed products designed to track HYPE exposure through regulated investment vehicles. Hyperliquid’s role as a 24/7 derivatives market has also made it more attractive to traders seeking exposure to assets such as crypto, commodities and tokenized markets outside traditional exchange hours.
Traders Watch $64-$65 Support
The near-term chart now centers on the $64 to $65 area. Bulls are treating that range as support after HYPE held above it during recent pullbacks, while a push back through the upper-$60s would keep the all-time-high zone in focus.
A break below $64 would weaken the short-term setup and put the whale’s paper gains under pressure. Some traders are watching deeper downside levels near $45 if momentum fails, especially because crowded leveraged positioning can intensify volatility when large accounts sit on visible gains.
The bear case is not only technical. Critics still question Hyperliquid’s decentralization, validator distribution, market-structure concentration and the long-term durability of its fee capture if regulated competitors enter the perpetual futures market more aggressively. CME and ICE have already raised concerns around onchain derivatives expansion, including Hyperliquid’s oil-linked products.
Arthur Hayes’ recent altcoin exit also added caution around HYPE. Hayes said he sold HYPE, NEAR and WLD because the AI trade may be nearing its peak, and his move followed earlier debate around whether high-beta tokens had already priced in too much liquidity and momentum.
For now, the whale’s $93 million HYPE long reflects the bullish side of that debate. Hyperliquid’s fee engine is still producing major revenue, ETF filings have widened the institutional narrative, and HYPE remains pinned near $66 to $67. The trade stays profitable while support around $64 to $65 holds, but a failed defense there would turn one of the market’s biggest visible HYPE bets into a live liquidation-risk signal.
