Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said Hyperliquid is one of the most important crypto projects to emerge in years, arguing that investors are still underestimating both the platform’s impact and the value of its native HYPE token.
In his latest weekly memo, Hougan said HYPE is the best-performing large-cap crypto asset of 2026, rising near 77% year to date. He framed Hyperliquid as a fast-growing trading venue that is moving beyond crypto perps into a broader set of markets, including commodities, S&P 500 futures, pre-IPO stocks, prediction markets, and other non-crypto assets.
Hougan said Hyperliquid now does nearly half of its volume in non-crypto assets and expects that share to rise to 70% by the end of the year. He argued that this positions Hyperliquid closer to the financial super app model described by SEC Chair Paul Atkins, where investors can access several asset classes through a single platform.
The memo said Hyperliquid processed $170 billion in trading volume over the past month, driven by its push into markets larger than crypto. Hougan said the platform is not trying to become the next Binance, but instead is aiming to become one of the largest trading venues globally.
Hougan also pointed to HYPE as an example of what he called a second-generation crypto token. Unlike earlier DeFi governance tokens that had little economic connection to the platforms they represented, HYPE was designed to capture value from the start, with 99% of Hyperliquid trading fees used to buy back the token.
That structure is central to Hougan’s valuation argument. He said Hyperliquid generates an estimated $800 million to $1 billion in annual revenue, while HYPE trades at a market capitalization of about $10 billion to $11 billion. That implies investors are paying roughly 10 to 14 times the platform’s buyback stream, which Hougan said is cheap for a fast-growing business.
Hougan argued that the market is making two mistakes: valuing Hyperliquid as a crypto perps exchange rather than a global multi-asset trading platform and treating HYPE like older tokens that failed to accrue value despite platform growth. He said HYPE should be compared more closely to trading venue equities such as Robinhood or CME, while noting that token holders do not have the same legal rights as equity holders.
The memo also acknowledged that Hyperliquid still has major hurdles. Hougan said the platform is not currently available to US users and still needs to integrate into the US regulatory system, leaving regulatory execution as a key test for the business.
Hougan framed Hyperliquid as an early example of what crypto projects can become under a clearer regulatory environment, with real products, real revenue, and tokens designed to capture value. He said competitors and regulatory changes remain risks, but argued that the market is offering investors a discounted view of one of crypto’s fastest-growing businesses.
The memo comes as Bitwise’s Hyperliquid focused ETF debuted last week, extending institutional access to HYPE as the token continues to rally. HYPE was last trading near $48.50 at press time, up nearly 2% on the day and more than 20% over the past week, according to CoinGecko data.
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