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Hyperliquid’s HYPE token has surged 176% since its launch, outpacing Bitcoin and Ethereum, driven by buybacks and strong fundamentals, but analysts say altcoin season is still ahead.
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Some cryptocurrencies have outperformed the rest of the crypto market recently, driven by strong fundamental incentives and significant user-generated fees for these protocols.
The Hyperliquid layer-1 blockchain’s HYPE token has outperformed the cryptocurrency market since its launch on Dec. 7, 2024.
In a little over two months since its launch, the HYPE token’s price has risen more than 176%, outperforming the top cryptocurrencies and the growth of the wider market.
HYPE, BTC, ETH, total three-month chart. Source: TradingView
During the same period, Bitcoin (BTC) fell 3%, Ether (ETH) fell 32%, while the total market capitalization of altcoins, excluding the above two, fell by 18%, TradingView data shows.
Hyperliquid’s performance is partly attributed to solid “fundamentals,” including its token buyback program, according to James Ho, co-founder of Modular Capital crypto investment firm.
“Only a handful of tokens with positive YTD price performance,” wrote Ho in a Feb. 13 X post, adding:
“HyperliquidX – $400 million – $500 million of run rate fees vs $8 billion – $9 billion circulating supply (20x) and entirely used for buybacks.”
Source: James Ho
Hyperliquid’s fees are “entirely directed to the community,” which flow into the Assistance Fund for token buybacks and the Hyperliqudiity Provider (HLP) for market making, according to the protocol’s technical documentation.
Hyperliquid came into the spotlight after staging the most valuable airdrop in crypto history, which soared to a total value of $7.5 billion on Jan. 15, Cointelegraph reported.
The decentralized launch of the hype token marks the beginning of a new era for fair launch tokens, Vitali Dervoed, co-founder and CEO of Composability Labs, told Cointelegraph.
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Altcoin still in “speculative” early phase – analyst
Some altcoins may still catch up to Hyperliquid’s performance during the 2025 altcoin season, which is imminent according to some analysts.
This is because crypto analysts suggest that the altcoin market is still in an early “speculative” phase before staging a recovery to 2021 highs.
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The altcoin season has yet to come, partly because memecoins have attracted a bigger share of investor capital and mindshare during the current cycle, according to Nicolai Sondergaard, research analyst at Nansen crypto intelligence platform.
The analyst told Cointelegraph:
“Altcoin season will still show up, but it may not be the same way people experienced it in previous cycles. We have way more tokens now, higher levels of dispersion[…]”
Meanwhile, crypto investor sentiment remains pressured by global trade war concerns following new import tariffs announced by the US and China.
Magazine: Korea to lift corporate crypto ban, beware crypto mining HDs: Asia Express
This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
