Hyperliquid Labs, the team behind the Hyperliquid protocol, has completed the unstaking of 3.75 million HYPE tokens valued at approximately $330 million, marking the largest team token distribution on record for the asset. More than half of the unstaked allocation has already been transferred to five buyers in privately negotiated over-the-counter (OTC) transactions, with the remainder still awaiting movement.

The unstaking process concluded on October 7 after a week-long unbonding period that began on September 30. Of the total 3.75 million HYPE, 1.875 million tokens have been transferred, while an equal amount of 1.875 million HYPE remains pending transfer.

How the OTC Distribution Unfolded

The process started with a seven-day unbonding window that opened on September 30. During an unbonding period, staked assets are locked and cannot be moved until the waiting time elapses. Once the seven days were up on October 7, Hyperliquid Labs sent 1.875 million HYPE to five wallets belonging to the buyers in the OTC distribution. Each wallet received an identical allocation of 375,000 HYPE.

iliensinc, one of the founders of Hyperliquid Labs, stated that the transfers were carried out as part of an OTC deal with an institutional counterparty. The buyer's identity has not been revealed, and the conditions of the financial arrangement remain undisclosed. The other 1.875 million HYPE from the 3.75 million-token pool has not yet moved.

Why the Distribution's Scale Stands Out

The size of the release is what separates it from earlier team distributions on a month-to-month basis. Earlier team distributions ranged between 140,000 and 534,000 HYPE, a cadence that made each release relatively modest. The latest release of 3.75 million tokens is nearly 8.65 times larger than those earlier distributions and is equivalent to 1.5% of HYPE's total supply.

Despite the magnitude, the OTC structure of the transaction ensured the tokens did not immediately appear on public exchanges. Instead of entering open order books, the initial batch was transferred directly to selected buyers through a private deal. While this arrangement may limit the immediate effect on public exchange liquidity, several key details are still missing, including the terms of the sale, the price paid for the tokens, and any lock-up periods attached to the allocation — details that would determine when, and under what conditions, the purchased tokens can change hands again.

October Team Allocation Falls Below Earlier Figure

The distribution also forms part of Hyperliquid Labs' team allocation schedule for October. Previous vesting schedules showed an October nominal of 9.9 million HYPE, meaning the 3.75 million tokens unstaked so far sit well below that number.

That gap may be significant for holders, as it indicates the amount of HYPE set to move through the team schedule this month could be smaller than initially planned. The remaining 1.875 million HYPE will nonetheless represent an important component of October's allocation, and the final total will depend on further unstaking.

What Happened After the Release

On-chain activity was recorded for the tokens following the transfers, with some of them restaked or collected into different wallets. The HYPE price was likewise supported by positive sentiment around the distribution, showing that even a transfer of this magnitude did not trigger a selloff in the open market.

That characteristic distinguishes the deal from an exchange-wide distribution: rather than dispersing tokens across trading venues, Hyperliquid Labs transferred half of the allocation to five specific OTC wallets.

David Schamis, the chief executive officer of Hyperliquid Strategies DAT (PURR), a digital asset treasury company, publicly addressed the transfers on October 8, stating in a post on X that his company was not the recipient of the 3.75 million HYPE OTC allocation:

I've said this publicly a few times so I'll say it again here: this was not us I don't know who it is but I'm 100% certain its not @HypeStrat — David Schamis (@dschamis) October 8, 2026 (post on X)

Derivatives Activity Remains High

The distribution arrives at a time when HYPE derivatives continue to see elevated activity. Perpetual contract open interest, which tracks the total value of outstanding contracts, currently stands at $1.76 billion, with 24-hour trading volume at $575.5 million. At the time of writing, HYPE is trading at $87.30.

The move could offer further insight into how Hyperliquid Labs is managing its October team allocation. For stakeholders, the disparity between the 9.9 million HYPE indicated in earlier vesting schedules and the 3.75 million tokens unstaked to date remains a relevant fact. The exact number of HYPE tokens distributed in October will depend on further unstaking.

Source: Tron Weekly