Hyperliquid climbs as Bitwise HYPE ETF fuels squeeze

Hyperliquid’s HYPE token rose more than 5% on Monday despite a wider cryptocurrency sell-off that pushed Bitcoin below $77,000.

The token briefly returned to its previous high near $47 before moving above that level during early trading.

Market data showed HYPE touched the level around midnight after previously peaking just below $47 on 15 May.

By 5:11 a.m. EDT, HYPE had eased to around $45.50, although it still held a strong gain against the weaker crypto market.

The move lifted HYPE’s market value to about $10.85bn, up from roughly $9.9bn recorded on 16 May.

The rebound added nearly $1bn to the token’s market capitalisation in only a few days.

HYPE’s rally also hit traders who had bet against the token through leveraged short positions.

Derivatives data showed around $7.1m in leveraged HYPE positions were liquidated during the move.

Short positions made up about 75% of the total liquidations, suggesting bearish traders absorbed most of the pressure.

Coinglass data showed that around 2,279 HYPE traders were liquidated worldwide during the sharp price move.

The largest single liquidation linked to the token was reportedly worth $877,299.

The short squeeze came after HYPE had dropped over the weekend following reports that rival exchange groups CME and ICE wanted regulators to examine Hyperliquid more closely.

Analysts said Bitwise’s new HYPE exchange-traded fund may have helped support the token’s recovery after the earlier decline.

Bitwise’s BHYP fund began trading on NYSE Arca on 15 May and became the first spot ETF linked to HYPE.

The fund was also described as the first spot HYPE ETF to include in-house staking.

Bitwise reported $4.31m in first-day trading volume for BHYP, marking one of the strongest U.S. spot altcoin ETF launches of 2026.

The fund differs from some rival structures because Bitwise manages staking through its own Bitwise Onchain Solutions division.

That arrangement allows staking rewards from the fund’s HYPE holdings to be added back to the net asset value.

HYPE’s gains stood out because most major crypto assets were trading lower during the same session.

Bitcoin weakened below $77,000 as risk sentiment across the digital asset market came under pressure.

Bitcoin Cash led losses among large-cap altcoins after falling about 12%.

Dogecoin also declined nearly 6% to around $0.104 as traders moved away from higher-risk tokens.

Most other large-cap altcoins posted losses of about 2% to 4% during the market pullback.

The broad weakness pushed the total altcoin market capitalisation close to the $1tn level.

Across the wider cryptocurrency market, total market value fell from just under $2.7tn to about $2.65tn.

HYPE’s rise showed how token-specific catalysts can still drive sharp rallies even when the broader market turns lower.

Traders may now watch whether ETF demand and staking rewards can continue supporting HYPE after the short squeeze fades.

At the time of reporting, Hyperliquid price was $45.31.