BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes stated that he has sold all his Hyperliquid tokens HYPE and NEAR. His reasons included rising energy prices, the potential for large-scale AI IPOs in the coming months, and his assessment that the market will peak around September.
According to the on-chain tracking account Lookonchain, Hayes sold 247,334 HYPE tokens, worth approximately $18.02 million at the time. This transaction is seen as profit-taking. He had previously publicly expressed optimism about HYPE's future performance, but this move indicates that his position has shifted to a more defensive stance.
Hayes mentioned three risks
Hayes stated that a more complete explanation will be included in his article "Reality Test," to be released next week. In the brief pre-released statement, he cited three reasons: the Iran war and stockpiling could drive up energy costs, three major AI companies are expected to go public before the beginning of the third quarter, and Trump may take a tougher political stance on AI.
He believes there's a possibility the market may have peaked between now and September, hence his decision to realize profits. If fuel and electricity costs continue to rise, inflationary pressures could intensify, limiting the scope for further monetary easing. Meanwhile, if US stocks continue to favor AI companies, newly listed projects could potentially draw away some venture capital.
Hyperliquid trading volume continues to grow.
Despite the attention drawn by Hayes' liquidation, Hyperliquid's business performance this year remains strong. In May, the platform accounted for a record 6.63% of the total perpetual contract volume across global centralized exchanges; its share relative to Binance also rose to 14.4%.
The platform's growth partly stemmed from the HIP-3 framework. Related products saw trading volume exceeding $62 billion in May, with open interest around $3 billion. However, Hyperliquid's pure crypto perpetual contract trading volume still declined year-over-year, indicating a challenging overall market environment.
Institutional funds continue to flow in. Grayscale's Hyperliquid ETF will launch under the ticker symbol HYPG, with a fee rate of 0.29%. The existing THYP and BHYP ETFs have seen a combined net inflow of $141 million. Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley also stated that over 7.7 million HYPE tokens have been staked on Bitwise Onchain Solutions validators.
The gap in positions held by major investors has narrowed.
Market data also shows that the long/short position spread among large Hyperliquid holders has narrowed to approximately $0.01 billion, reflecting a narrowing of directional divergence among large holders. This makes Hayes' reduction in holdings even more noteworthy, as HYPE has consistently been one of the strongest performing crypto tokens in 2026.
Hayes did not indicate a long-term departure from Hyperliquid in his response. His reply, "I will be back," suggests that this is more of a temporary risk-reduction measure than a complete bearish view of the project.
