In a notable turn of events for the cryptocurrency market, Hyperliquid’s native token, HYPE, surged over 11% on Monday. This rally was driven by a bullish assertion from Arthur Hayes, the chief investment officer at Maelstrom, who disclosed that HYPE is now his firm’s largest altcoin position. Following Hayes’ announcement, HYPE traded at approximately $35, marking a significant uptick compared to Bitcoin’s modest 3.1% gain in the same period.
Hayes has set a bold price target of $150 for HYPE, declaring Hyperliquid as the leading decentralized exchange (DEX) for perpetual trading. This optimistic forecast comes amid the backdrop of a remarkable year for HYPE, which has more than doubled in value, although it still sits over 40% below its all-time high of $59 reached in September 2025.
In his detailed analysis, Hayes noted that an astonishing 97% of Hyperliquid’s revenues are reinvested into purchasing HYPE tokens from the market. He believes this aggressive buyback strategy positions Hyperliquid as the most revenue-generating crypto project that isn’t classified as a stablecoin. The target of $150 hinges upon Hyperliquid achieving $1.4 billion in annualized revenue—an impressive milestone previously reached in August 2025—and a reevaluation of the token’s earnings multiple from approximately 12x to around 25x.
Over the last year, HYPE has experienced a striking rise while Bitcoin has seen a nearly 15% decline. Hayes emphasizes that Hyperliquid’s success does not necessarily correlate with a broader growth trend in crypto derivatives. He estimates that simply capturing an additional 3.97 percentage points of market share from centralized exchanges would suffice to reach his projected revenue figures.
Future Growth Drivers: HIP-3 and Market Innovations
Looking ahead, Hayes points to the implementation of HIP-3, Hyperliquid’s permissionless perpetuals listing framework, as a critical growth factor. Users who stake 500,000 HYPE tokens can create new markets using the platform’s sophisticated engine. Already, early markets including silver, gold, the Nasdaq 100, and the S&P 500 have contributed to nearly 10% of Hyperliquid’s total revenues within just four months of their launch.
Furthermore, the anticipated HIP-4 feature introduces a permissionless prediction market, which could serve as another significant revenue catalyst not accounted for in Hayes’ base projections. Addressing concerns regarding token supply, Hayes highlighted a restriction in distribution from about 20% in late 2025 to a mere 1% in January and February 2026, indicating a more controlled release strategy.
Even in a less favorable market scenario, Hayes estimates the value of HYPE could stabilize around $58 based on a conservative earnings multiple approach, suggesting substantial upside potential as HYPE currently trades at $33.24.
