HYPE token's 30% surge is a story of crypto-traditional market convergence, treasury firm says

Markets Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email HYPE token's 30% surge is a story of crypto-traditional market convergence, treasury firm says HYPE has surged 30%, outperforming bitcoin, ether and the CoinDesk 20 index by a big margin. By Omkar Godbole , AI Boost | Edited by Shaurya Malwa Jan 28, 2026, 8:02 a.m. Make us preferred on Google HYPE rally. (CoinDesk) What to know : Hyperliquid's HYPE token has surged more than 30% to $33, far outpacing bitcoin, ether and the broader crypto market, as trading activity on the platform accelerates. The token rally represents the merging of traditional assets with the crypto world, according to Hyperion DeFi, which is a HYPE treasury company. Originally a crypto perpetuals exchange, Hyperliquid has expanded into tokenized trading of equity indices, individual stocks, commodities and major fiat pairs via its HIP-3 upgrade. When the crypto market emerged more than a decade ago, its proponents pitched it as "us vs. them" – a rebel fight against Wall Street and traditional markets. Over time, the great divide slowly closed with the debut of popular traditional instruments like futures and ETFs tied to cryptocurrencies, and now the two worlds have merged on decentralized platforms. STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms & conditions and privacy policy . The market-beating rally in Hyperliquid's HYPE token, a decentralized exchange, reflects just that, according to Hyunsu Jung, CEO of Nasdaq-listed Hyperion DeFi. It's the first US publicly listed company building a long-term strategic treasury of HYPE tokens. As of late last year, it held over 1.4 million HYPE tokens. The HYPE token has surged over 30% to $33 this week, leaving bitcoin BTC $ 89,229.75 , ether ETH $ 3,011.54 and other major tokens far behind. Bitcoin has risen just 1.84%, while the CoinDesk 20 Index, a broader market gauge, has gained over 4%, according to CoinDesk data. "This is a story of the convergence of all asset classes under the megatrend of tokenization in an increasingly financialized world - more and more of which is happening on Hyperliquid," Hyunsu said, explaining the HYPE rally. While Hyperliquid started as a decentralized exchange for trading perpetual futures tied to cryptocurrencies, it has since expanded its product suite to include trading in equity indices, stocks, commodities, and major fiat currency pairs. This shift stems from the Hyperliquid Improvement Proposal-3 (HIP-3), launched in October 2025, which allows anyone staking 500,000 HYPE tokens to freely create markets for non-crypto assets. The timing couldn't have been better, as traditional assets, especially gold and silver, have gone bonkers since late 2025, driving huge trading volumes and fees in Hyperliquid's markets for those assets. The silver-USDC market has registered a trading volume of over $1 billion in the past 24 hours alone. The numbers look even more impressive on a broader scale. "Within just 3 months of this upgrade, Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 markets have captured over $1B in Open Interest, ~$25B in total trading volume and over $3M in total fees, all transparently on-chain," Hyunsu noted. "Users globally are now able to access and trade equities (for example those in countries that could not access US equities) or get exposure to the incredible metals trade over the last few months." The boom in fees translates into higher prices for HYPE via a token-burning mechanism. Hyperliquid burns HYPE based on protocol fees through an automated mechanism, with up to 97% of fee revenue used to buy back HYPE and remove coins from circulation. "It's a deflationary mechanism not found in any other blockchain ecosystem, and an incredible structural tailwind for our treasury," Hyunsu said. He explained that the nonstop 24/7 availability of traditional markets on Hyperliquid allows traders to react to global events, helping to achieve fairer spot prices outside regular hours and even on weekends when traditional markets are closed. Hyperliquid hype Markets AI Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards . For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy . More For You Pudgy Penguins: A New Blueprint for Tokenized Culture By CoinDesk Research Dec 30, 2025 Commissioned by Pudgy Penguins Pudgy Penguins is building a multi-vertical consumer IP platform — combining phygital products, games, NFTs and PENGU to monetize culture at scale. What to know : Pudgy Penguins is emerging as one of the strongest NFT-native brands of this cycle, shifting from speculative “digital luxury goods” into a multi-vertical consumer IP platform. Its strategy is to acquire users through mainstream channels first; toys, retail partnerships and viral media, then onboard them into Web3 through games, NFTs and the PENGU token. The ecosystem now spans phygital products (> $13M retail sales and >1M units sold), games and experiences (Pudgy Party surpassed 500k downloads in two weeks), and a widely distributed token (airdropped to 6M+ wallets). While the market is currently pricing Pudgy at a premium relative to traditional IP peers, sustained success depends on execution across retail expansion, gaming adoption and deeper token utility. View Full Report More For You Ethereum unveils new rules to make AI agents turstworthy By Shaurya Malwa 43 minutes ago A new Ethereum standard seeks to give AI agents portable identities and reputations, letting them interact across companies and chains without relying on centralized gatekeepers. What to know : Ethereum developers are set to roll out ERC-8004, a new standard that gives AI software agents persistent on-chain identities and a shared framework for establishing credibility. The standard defines three registries—identity, reputation and validation—that let agents register themselves, collect reusable feedback and publish independent checks of their work on Ethereum or layer-2 networks. Framed as neutral infrastructure rather than a marketplace, ERC-8004 aims to enable interoperable, gatekeeper-free AI services on Ethereum, even as ether trades just above $3,000 after a recent price gain. Read full story Latest Crypto News Ethereum unveils new rules to make AI agents turstworthy 43 minutes ago BTC, ETH, SOL move higher as markets eye Fed, Mag 7 earnings and weaker dollar 1 hour ago Here's how China's response to Trump tariffs silently rocks bitcoin 1 hour ago Dogecoin turns lower after failing to hold $0.124 2 hours ago XRP climbs to $1.90 but struggles to break out of tight range 2 hours ago Top stablecoins shrink as crypto cash flees, posing risk to bitcoin's bounce 2 hours ago Top Stories Circle faces first major 'threat' for institutional dollars from Tether’s USAT 9 hours ago Rick Rieder, a rising favorite for Trump's Fed chair pick, sees bitcoin as new gold 16 hours ago Crypto faces fork in the road as Clarity Act support wavers, Bitwise says 13 hours ago Bitcoin miners surge as Anthropic's fundraising efforts boost AI spirits 11 hours ago UK banks’ anti-crypto stance intensifies even as regulatory process moves forward 14 hours ago In this article ETH ETH $ 3,011.54 ◢ 2.89 % BTC BTC $ 89,229.75 ◢ 1.09 %