Hyperliquid’s strong price performance and renewed momentum in AI-focused crypto projects are pointing to a broader recovery in risk appetite across the altcoin market, according to analyst Michael van de Poppe.
In recent developments, Hyperliquid has significantly outperformed much of the broader crypto market as traders rotate back into higher-risk assets. Its HYPE token recently reached a new all-time high following the launch of two HYPE ETFs in the United States.
Van de Poppe noted that European traders have increasingly gravitated toward Hyperliquid, citing limited access to perpetual futures trading on regulated platforms across the region. He added that the protocol’s expansion into tokenized equities, commodities, and pre-IPO assets is helping accelerate the broader tokenization narrative within crypto markets.
He suggested that if risk appetite continues to strengthen, HYPE could potentially climb toward $100 or higher. Van de Poppe discussed these views during an appearance on CoinDesk’s Markets Outlook with Jennifer Sanasie.
While he sees Hyperliquid as a short-term outperformer, van de Poppe expressed stronger long-term conviction in Solana. He argued that liquidity in crypto markets is increasingly concentrating around a small group of protocols demonstrating strong user growth and revenue generation.
According to him, Hyperliquid currently benefits from this liquidity concentration, but he warned that competition is likely to intensify over time, which could challenge its dominance. In contrast, he described Solana as successfully transitioning from a “degen” ecosystem into a more institutional-grade blockchain network, making it a stronger infrastructure play over a multi-year horizon.
On the AI segment of the market, van de Poppe said AI-linked crypto projects remain significantly undervalued compared to traditional AI companies. He highlighted NEAR and Bittensor as leading infrastructure plays positioned to benefit from growing AI adoption in crypto.
He also argued that valuations in traditional AI equities have become overheated, while AI-related tokens have lagged despite continued ecosystem expansion. He noted that NEAR’s projected revenue growth—from around $10 million in 2025 to as much as $100 million this year—could justify a higher valuation.
For Bittensor, he said continued subnet expansion and ecosystem growth could support price targets between $1,000 and $2,000 if adoption trends persist.
On the privacy narrative, van de Poppe said it remains a key long-term theme for crypto, but fully anonymous systems face increasing regulatory challenges. He explained that both institutional and retail users are demanding more transactional privacy on-chain, though regulators are unlikely to support fully untraceable systems.
He added that European funds already face restrictions when interacting with certain privacy-focused assets. Instead, he pointed to zero-knowledge proofs and permissioned privacy solutions as more realistic pathways for institutional adoption.
From a macro perspective, van de Poppe said bond yields and central bank policy remain the primary short-term drivers for crypto markets. He highlighted Japanese government bond yields as a particularly important signal for global risk sentiment.
He noted that declining yields could support both equities and crypto, while persistent inflation would act as a headwind. He also said he does not expect aggressive rate cuts from the U.S. Federal Reserve in the near term, warning that any renewed rate hikes would likely weigh on crypto and broader risk assets.
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