Hyperliquid’s native token $HYPE reached a fresh all-time high near $82 over the past day, extending a rally that has lifted the token 38% this week. The token is currently posting 24-hour trading volume above $2 billion alongside a market capitalization of $17.17 billion. The underlying platform — a decentralized exchange that runs on its own Layer-1 blockchain and matches trades on a fully on-chain order book rather than through an off-chain matching engine — has processed more than $176 billion in trading volume over the past 30 days, with open interest exceeding $8 billion.

The latest surge traces back to August 19, when President Donald Trump said the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) was working to bring Hyperliquid into the United States “in a fully compliant and legal manner.” The CFTC oversees U.S. derivatives markets, which is exactly the territory a perpetual futures venue must navigate to operate legally — context that underscores why formal acknowledgment from the agency carries weight for the platform. The remark sent $HYPE toward record levels within hours, with the token rising as much as 25% in a single day as traders priced in the prospect of formal U.S. market access.

Days before Trump’s comment, the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium hosted a discussion of the CFTC’s approach to Hyperliquid. Separately, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao described any U.S. pathway for Hyperliquid as “a win for the entire crypto industry.”

Multicoin Capital’s Coinbase Prime Transfers

Even as $HYPE climbed toward its record, crypto-focused venture firm Multicoin Capital continued depositing tokens into Coinbase Prime, an institutional custody and trading platform typically used by large holders to facilitate sizable trades. Because transfers on a public blockchain are visible to anyone, wallet activity of this kind has become a standard window into institutional positioning — though a deposit to a trading venue signals tokens are positioned for possible sale rather than confirming a completed sale.

On August 20 alone, a Multicoin-linked wallet sent 308,884 $HYPE — worth roughly $19.8 million — to Coinbase Prime in a seven-hour window. That transfer was followed by a 172,710 $HYPE deposit worth about $10.15 million and a smaller batch of 62,700 $HYPE valued at $4.37 million around the same period.

Since February 2026, the firm has moved more than $100 million in $HYPE into Coinbase Prime, marking one of Multicoin’s largest liquid crypto positions. $HYPE traded between roughly $55 and $70 for much of the summer, and comparable large deposits in July correlated with declines of around 8% in the token’s price, suggesting the market has learned to watch Multicoin’s wallets closely.

The pattern has drawn scrutiny in light of the firm’s own bullish public stance. In June, Multicoin published a valuation report projecting a base-case price of $319 for $HYPE by 2028, anchored to expectations that Hyperliquid’s annual earnings would scale toward $8 billion.

The steady shift echoes a broader trend of large holders moving tokens onto Coinbase Prime ahead of potential sales. Bitcoin.com News recently reported on a major Solana treasury shifting a sizable sum of SOL to Coinbase Prime while sitting on steep unrealized losses.

Buybacks and the CFTC Question

Hyperliquid has tried to counter sell-pressure narratives with its own buyback mechanism. The protocol directs nearly all trading revenue — an estimated 99% of fees from its perpetual futures and spot markets — into continuously repurchasing $HYPE through what it calls the Assistance Fund, a structure that functions much like a corporate share buyback funded from operating income. The exchange generated more than $896 million in revenue over the past 12 months, giving the buyback program substantial firepower.

Whether those repurchases offset Multicoin’s continued Coinbase Prime deposits may determine whether $HYPE holds its record levels or retraces, according to the report. Traders are also watching whether the CFTC’s review of Hyperliquid advances into formal U.S. market access, a step that could open the platform to a far larger institutional base and add fresh demand beyond the current offshore trading crowd.

Source: CryptoNewsNet