Arthur Hayes says HYPE can beat Solana this bull run

Arthur Hayes has doubled down on his bullish view of Hyperliquid (HYPE), arguing that the token could overtake Solana (SOL) before the current crypto bull cycle ends.

The BitMEX co-founder set a $150 price target for HYPE and rejected claims that the wider digital asset market has already moved into bearish territory.

Hayes shared the prediction on X, where he pushed back against traders who said speculative tokens had already lost momentum.

His comments came after one user described the market as being in “a bear market”, prompting Hayes to respond that his altcoin positions suggested otherwise.

Hayes has previously accumulated more than 26,000 HYPE tokens, and his latest posts suggested he now sees the asset as one of his strongest cycle bets.

He linked his thesis to the Clarity Act, resistance from traditional finance, and the possibility that speculative trading activity could remain strong for longer.

Hayes has also previously argued that the current bull market could continue through 2028, supported by stablecoin growth and rising trading volumes.

Hyperliquid has drawn attention because of its buyback programme, which has reportedly used more than $1.16 billion to repurchase HYPE from the open market.

The buyback activity has created a structural source of demand for the token, although it does not remove the risk of sharp price swings.

Hyperliquid’s financial performance has also strengthened the bullish case, with Hyperliquid Strategies reporting $152.5 million in quarterly profit.

Hayes believes those figures could help HYPE narrow the valuation gap with Solana, even though Solana still has a much larger market capitalisation.

Solana remains one of the leading smart contract networks for decentralised finance, memecoin trading, and other high-volume speculative activity.

That makes Hayes’ prediction ambitious, as HYPE would need sustained revenue growth, deeper liquidity, and continued investor demand to challenge Solana’s position.

Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan has also expressed strong support for HYPE, describing the asset as a major new-generation crypto opportunity.

Hougan argued that HYPE should be assessed against the scale of the global financial market rather than only against the current size of the crypto sector.

"Generational asset,"

Matt Hougan said, referring to HYPE as he compared its possible market opportunity with the wider global financial system.

Hougan also called Bitwise’s BHYP ETF the strongest single-asset crypto exchange-traded product launch since Bitcoin, citing nearly $60 million in inflows since mid-May.

He described HYPE as a “Gen 2 token” because nearly all protocol fees are reportedly directed towards token buybacks.

Supporters of HYPE argue that this fee model gives the token a clearer value link than many earlier crypto assets.

However, the bullish case still depends on Hyperliquid maintaining strong revenue, high user activity, and durable demand through the rest of the cycle.

The comparison with Solana remains difficult because Solana has a broader ecosystem, stronger developer activity, and deeper recognition among retail and institutional traders.

Hayes’ forecast has added fresh attention to HYPE, but the token’s path towards Solana’s scale remains highly dependent on market conditions and execution.

At the time of reporting, Hyperliquid price was $68.57.