Hyperliquid’s HYPE token has reached a fresh all-time high close to $88.90, extending a rally that has delivered gains of more than 50% over the past month and lifted the token’s market capitalization toward $20 billion. The advance has come despite broader headwinds across much of the crypto market, making HYPE one of the strongest-performing large-cap tokens of the period.

HYPE traded as high as $88.88 across major venues on September 6 before easing slightly below the record. The breakout returned the token to price discovery after it repeatedly tested the mid-$80 range during the first week of September.

Rally Tied to Hyperliquid’s Fee Mechanics

The advance continues to be supported by Hyperliquid’s trading economics. Fees directed into the Assistance Fund are automatically converted into HYPE, with the purchased tokens permanently removed from both circulating and total supply. This buy-and-burn design resembles the fee-sharing models used by other exchanges, but Hyperliquid links it directly to perpetual trading volumes rather than spot activity.

Approximately 47 million HYPE have now accumulated in the burn address, equal to about 4.7% of the original one billion-token maximum supply. Hyperliquid has also generated an annualized fee run rate above $1 billion during periods of heightened trading activity, creating a direct connection between exchange usage and open-market HYPE purchases.

This mechanism helped HYPE recover from its late-July drop below $56, when a $150 million unstaking queue raised concerns about potential institutional selling. The token has risen more than 55% from that level and surpassed its previous June record near $75.

HYPE perpetual open interest has climbed above $2 billion around the latest breakout, while positive funding indicates leveraged long demand remains elevated. The first significant market test sits around $90, with the psychological $100 level next if price discovery continues.

Hyperliquid Broadens Beyond Crypto Perpetuals

Protocol activity has expanded beyond the crypto contracts that originally built Hyperliquid’s trading business. In August, HyperCore added xStocks spot markets covering assets such as Nvidia, SPY and QQQ, bringing transferable tokenized equities and ETFs alongside the network’s growing HIP-3 perpetual market.

Traditional-market products, commodities, pre-IPO assets and equity-linked contracts have widened the range of collateral and trading activity competing for liquidity on Hyperliquid. HYPE also functions as the native gas token for HyperEVM and can reduce trading fees when staked, extending its utility beyond the Assistance Fund.

HYPE has also gained a derivatives venue outside Hyperliquid itself. On September 3, Polymarket launched perpetual futures with up to 20x leverage, including HYPE alongside Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, major stock indices and commodities. The listing offers traders another route to take leveraged long or short exposure to HYPE as demand for continuous markets grows beyond dedicated crypto exchanges.

Potential U.S. Market Access Adds Another Catalyst

A possible regulated U.S. route has become one of Hyperliquid’s most significant recent developments. Kraken parent Payward and Hyperliquid Labs have been discussing a structure that could bring selected Hyperliquid-linked perpetual futures to American traders through Bitnomial, subject to regulatory approval. A regulated U.S. pathway would be notable for Hyperliquid, which has operated without geographic restrictions typical of offshore venues, and would place it more squarely within the oversight framework that governs established derivatives exchanges.

Bitnomial already holds the CFTC exchange, clearinghouse and futures commission merchant licenses needed to operate a vertically integrated U.S. derivatives venue. The talks surfaced alongside recent $30 million Lazarus-linked flows through Hyperliquid, placing both regulatory expansion and compliance scrutiny in focus as the platform grows. The Lazarus-linked flows have drawn attention because the group is a U.S.-sanctioned North Korean state hacking entity previously tied to major exchange exploits, underscoring the compliance questions that accompany the platform’s permissionless design.

HYPE stayed near its new record on September 6, with the move above $88 leaving $90 as the immediate price-discovery level following a rally of more than 50% over the past month.