Hyperliquid's HYPE emerges as crypto market haven

Crypto Daybook Americas Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Hyperliquid's HYPE emerges as crypto market haven Your day-ahead look for Feb. 2, 2026 By Omkar Godbole | Edited by Sheldon Reback Feb 2, 2026, 12:15 p.m. Make us preferred on Google Hyperliquid founder Jeff Yan. (Modified by CoinDesk) What to know : You are viewing Crypto Daybook Americas, your morning briefing on what happened in the crypto markets overnight and what's expected during the coming day. Crypto Daybook Americas will kickstart your morning with comprehensive insights. If you're not already subscribed to the email, click here . You won't want to start your day without it. In this article TRX TRX $ 0.2836 ◢ 0.75 % By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise) While the crypto market licks its wounds from the weekend's slide , decentralized exchange Hyperliquid's permissionless markets have exploded to record highs. 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 markets, introduced in October with Hyperliquid Improvement Proposal 3 (HIP-3), hit a record high of $1 billion in open interest and $4.8 billion in 24-hour volume. Under HIP-3, anyone can spin up markets for crypto, stocks, gold and beyond by staking 500,000 HYPE tokens. The initiative represents democratization of market making, not just trading. This surge in activity has propelled Hyperliquid's native token, HYPE, to a standout 41% gain over seven days, in contrast to bitcoin's 11% slide and steeper plunges in ether ETH $ 2,298.26 and other major altcoins. Some are now calling HYPE a "defensive play," akin to pharmaceutical or utility stocks that hold steady in equity bear markets, prioritizing capital preservation and stability over speculative bets. It remains to be seen if HYPE can sustain this haven status, especially if the crypto crash deepens. A continued selloff could erode investor confidence, slow trading activity on all exchanges, including Hyperliquid, and cap the token's gains. For now, though, traders have one token bucking the BTC-centric trend, offering a rare diversification glimmer in a market that appears to be blindly following bitcoin lower. Speaking of markets, over the weekend bitcoin fell to under $75,000, with the broader market following suit. Almost all crypto market sub-sector indices are now down 15% or more this year, according to CoinDesk Indices. The BTC slide has left spot ETF holders underwater, setting the stage for large redemptions and further bearish pressure. Traders are also worried about how Strategy's (MSTR) shares will trade on Monday. With 712,000 BTC (3.4% of total supply), Strategy will mostly converge to bitcoin. MSTR's built-in leverage means it will crater even harder, Tagus Capital explained, adding that decoupling like the one seen Friday, when BTC fell to $81,000, and MSTR rose 4%, won't last. According to QCP Capital, $74,000 is the key support price leve for bitcoin. A move below that "would increase the risk of a deeper drawdown, potentially drawing the broader crypto complex back toward its 2024 trading range," the firm said in a market update. It added that a decisive move above $80,000 could offer near-term relief. Stay alert! Read more: For analysis of today's activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today What to Watch For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk's " Crypto Week Ahead ". Crypto Feb. 2: Auctions to go live on the Uniswap Web App. Macro Feb. 2: Canada S&P Global Manufacturing PMI for January (Prev. 48.6) Feb. 2, 10 a.m.: U.S. ISM Manufacturing PMI for January (Prev. 47.9) Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data) Nothing scheduled. Token Events For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk's " Crypto Week Ahead ". Governance votes & calls CoW DAO is voting to renew team grants via a 5% base allocation and up to 10% in performance incentives linked to revenue milestones. Voting ends Feb. 2. BNB Chain is voting on a proposal to adjust five system parameters to align with the upcoming Fermi hard fork and its faster 0.45-second block interval. Voting ends Feb. 2. ENS DAO is voting to fund a $125k independent retrospective led by Metagov. The project will analyze past spending and governance effectiveness to create an evidence-based roadmap for the DAO's future. Voting ends Feb. 2. GnosisDAO is voting to enable Ranked Choice Voting for governance proposals. This change allows the community to select from multiple options in an instant-runoff system. Voting ends Feb. 2. Unlocks No major unlocks. Token Launches Feb. 2: Zama (ZAMA) to be listed on OKX, Bybit, Bitrue, KuCoin, and others. Conferences For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk's " Crypto Week Ahead ". Day 4 of 4: CatLumpur 26 (Kuala Lumpur) Day 2 of 4: Web Summit Qatar (Doha, Qatar) Market Movements BTC is down 7.83% from 4 p.m. ET Friday at $77,639.00 (24hrs: -0.83%) ETH is down 15.5% at $2,286.95 (24hrs: -3.9%) CoinDesk 20 is down 7.5% at 2,331.94 (24hrs: -2.22%) Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate is up 6 bps at 2.97% BTC funding rate is at -0.0038% (-4.1369% annualized) on Binance DXY is unchanged at 97.07 Gold futures are unchanged at $4,746.60 Silver futures are up 4.47% at $82.04 Nikkei 225 closed down 1.25% at 52,655.18 Hang Seng closed down 2.23% at 26,775.57 FTSE is unchanged at 10,227.93 Euro Stoxx 50 is down 0.13% at 5,939.96 DJIA closed on Friday down 0.37% at 48,892.47 S&P 500 closed down 0.43% at 6,939.03 Nasdaq Composite closed down 0.94% at 23,461.82 S&P/TSX Composite closed down 3.31% at 31,923.52 S&P 40 Latin America closed down 3.64% at 3,623.17 U.S. 10-Year Treasury rate is down 2.5 bps at 4.216% E-mini S&P 500 futures are down 0.6% at 6,923.75 E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures are down 0.88% at 25,443.50 E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average Index futures are down 0.26% at 48,883.00 Bitcoin Stats BTC Dominance: 60% (+0.1%) Ether-bitcoin ratio: 0.02946 (-0.13%) Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 876 EH/s Hashprice (spot): $34.43 Total fees: 2.52 BTC / $196,950 CME Futures Open Interest: 117,345 BTC BTC priced in gold: 16.5 oz. BTC vs gold market cap: 5.19% Technical Analysis Bitcoin's weekly chart. (TradingView) The chart shows bitcoin's weekly price swings since 2023 in candlestick format along with the Ichimoku cloud , a moving average-based trend indicator. BTC fell over 11% last week, dropping decisively below the Ichimoku cloud to confirm a long-term bullish-to-bearish trend change. The focus now shifts to support at around $74,000, which prices nearly tested today, followed by $69,000, the high of 2021. Crypto Equities Coinbase Global (COIN): closed on Friday at $194.74 (-2.23%), -4.13% at $186.70 in pre-market Circle Internet (CRCL): closed at $63.93 (-5.36%), -2.58% at $62.28 Galaxy Digital (GLXY): closed at $28.26 (-5.67%), -6.86% at $26.32 Bullish (BLSH): closed at $30.20 (-7.53%), -1.59% at $29.72 MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $9.50 (-3.65%), -5.26% at $9.00 Riot Platforms (RIOT): closed at $15.47 (-8.84%), -5.49% at $14.62 Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $17.99 (-4.51%), -5.73% at $16.96 CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $11.84 (-5.96%), -6.76% at $11.04 CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI): closed at $45.06 (-7.55%), -4.57% at $43.00 Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $13.09 (-6.37%), -1.38% at $12.91 Crypto Treasury Companies Strategy (MSTR): closed at $149.71 (+4.55%), -6.62% at $139.80 Strive (ASST): closed at $0.82 (+4.59%), -7.38% at $0.76 SharpLink Gaming (SBET): closed at $8.88 (-5.23%), -8.78% at $8.10 Upexi (UPXI): closed at $1.78 (-2.73%), -8.43% at $1.63 Lite Strategy (LITS): closed at $1.21 (-3.20%), -2.48% at $1.18 ETF Flows Spot BTC ETFs Daily net flows: -$509.7 million Cumulative net flows: $54.99 billion Total BTC holdings ~1.28 million Spot ETH ETFs Daily net flows: -$252.9 million Cumulative net flows: $12.01 billion Total ETH holdings ~5.93 million Source: Farside Investors While You Were Sleeping Bitcoin briefly falls near $74,000 as thin liquidity keeps traders on edge (CoinDesk): Bitcoin traded back above $76,000 after testeing$74,000, highlighting the fragile balance between dip buyers and forced sellers in a market still short on depth. Dollar gains as metals slide hurts commodity currencies (Bloomberg): The dollar gained strength again, advancing the most against currencies sensitive to commodity prices, gold and silver plunged sending ripples across markets. Stocks slide as silver rout unleashes hefty selling (Reuters): Global shares fell, as a sudden, massive selloff in precious metals forced investors to ditch other assets to cover losses, ahead of a week packed with corporate earnings, central bank meetings and major economic data. Oil prices fall 5% on U.S.-Iran de-escalation (Reuters) Oil fell 5% on Monday after President Donald Trump said Iran was "seriously talking" with Washington, signaling de-escalation with an OPEC member to ease supply disruption concerns. Crypto Daybook Americas