Citrini Research, the research firm that caused market volatility in February this year by being bearish on AI trading, has now turned its attention to the crypto market. Its latest report lists the decentralized perpetual contract platform Hyperliquid and its token HYPE as a new "watchlist" entity, citing the platform's consistent fee revenue and token buyback mechanism as key reasons.
Platform revenue and buybacks become the core criteria.
According to a Citrini report cited in the report, unlike most crypto projects that rely on sentiment-driven trading, Hyperliquid's token value is more closely linked to the platform's business performance. The report states that over 90% of the platform's transaction fees flow into a fund used to buy back HYPE tokens and are continuously purchased on the open market.
According to DeFiLlama data, Hyperliquid currently generates approximately $1.06 billion in annualized fees, and its perpetual contract trading volume over the past 30 days is approximately $220 billion. Since launching its buyback program in January 2025, the cumulative buyback amount has exceeded $2 billion.
HYPE outperformed most crypto assets.
The report noted that HYPE is one of the best-performing crypto assets this year. While the overall digital asset market has been under pressure, the token has maintained relative strength.
Hyperliquid is one of the leading platforms for on-chain perpetual contract trading, holding a significant share of the on-chain derivatives trading market. The platform supports users trading perpetual contracts for crypto assets and also covers some commodities and private equity-related products.
However, differing opinions exist in the market. Some analysts believe that this buyback model is highly dependent on consistently active derivatives trading. Once trading volume declines, the token's support level may weaken.
A shift in the US market's attitude toward perpetual contracts.
In addition to the platform's own business, the report also mentioned that the US regulatory environment is changing. Last month, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) opened up space for the launch of some crypto perpetual contracts under its regulatory framework, which was seen as a signal that the US market may be relaxing restrictions on related products.
This change has prompted several exchanges to accelerate their deployments. Coinbase has already expanded its perpetual contract product in the United States, and Kraken is also considered likely to launch a similar service later this month.
Against this backdrop, Hyperliquid's market leadership and revenue generation capabilities have become one of the key reasons why external research institutions are reassessing the valuation logic of on-chain derivatives platforms.
