Hyperliquid’s $314M unlock fuels calls for clarity, sell-pressure warnings

A $314 million Hyperliquid token unlock scheduled for Saturday puts the perpetuals decentralized exchange (DEX) under its most significant tokenomics spotlight yet, as one community member calls for clearer communication on how the core contributor unlock will be managed. 

Tokenomist data shows that on Saturday, Hyperliquid will release 9.92 million HYPE tokens, which is 2.66% of the supply. The tokens are worth about $314 million at the time of writing. The HYPE allocation will be released in a “cliff unlock,” which means they will be released all at once. 

The unlock ignited public conversations among holders, including an open letter from an X user named Andy, who urged the team to address the community before the tokens are unlocked. At the time of writing, HYPE trades at $31, a 23% decline over the past month. 

“The team and airdrop recipients finally able to sell is going to ruffle feathers until you address the community head on,” Andy wrote. “The entire market has PTSD from the destruction on charts of VC-backed vapor.”

Arthur Hayes says to expect sell pressure

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes issued a blunt warning that the upcoming unlocking event introduces unavoidable selling pressure for the token. He said that insider assurances cannot eliminate uncertainty 

“Even if the team pinky swears to not sell, there is nothing holding them to that. So you have to assume a >0% amount of daily sell pressure,” Hayes wrote. 

He pointed to a sharp drop in Hyperliquid’s price-to-fully diluted valuation (FDV) ratio since July as proof that traders are already discounting the forthcoming dilution risk, unless revenue growth continues to outpace the increase in supply. 

While some community members are calling for more open communication, others argue that the Hyperliquid team is not obligated to disclose what they will do with their tokens.

One X user said that disclosing the allocation amount and timing was “sufficient” and that the team can decide what they will do with their tokens internally. 

Another community member criticized the open letter and called it “desperation” and “borrowed conviction.” He said that out of all the teams, the Hyperliquid members have “definitely earned” their tokens. 

Related: Trader torches $3M to punch a $5M hole in Hyperliquid’s vault

Perpetual DEX volumes remain consistent in November

Despite a broader crypto market slump, perpetual DEXs saw consistent daily volumes ranging from $28 billion to $60 billion, according to DefiLlama. 

The top four perp DEXs — Lighter, Aster, Hyperliquid and edgeX — saw a combined trading volume of over $1 trillion in the last 30 days. Lighter led the group with a $300 billion volume, while Aster followed with a $289 billion monthly volume. 

Hyperliquid ranked third with a $259 billion volume, while edgeX recorded a volume of $177 billion in the same time frame.