HYPE token’s 50% rally highlights growing convergence between crypto and traditional markets, treasury firm says

HYPE has surged more than 50% this week, sharply outperforming bitcoin, ether and the broader crypto market.

When crypto first emerged more than a decade ago, it was framed as a rebellion—an alternative financial system positioned squarely against Wall Street and traditional markets.

That divide has steadily narrowed. The introduction of familiar financial instruments such as futures and exchange-traded funds tied to digital assets helped bridge the gap, and today the two worlds are increasingly intersecting on decentralized platforms.

The market-beating rally in Hyperliquid’s HYPE token reflects that convergence, according to Hyunsu Jung, CEO of Nasdaq-listed Hyperion DeFi—the first U.S. public company to build a long-term strategic treasury in HYPE. As of late last year, the firm held more than 1.4 million HYPE tokens.

HYPE climbed over 50% to around $34, leaving major assets well behind. Bitcoin has risen just 1.84% over the same period, while ether and other large tokens lagged, and the CoinDesk 20 Index gained slightly more than 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,” Jung said, describing the forces behind HYPE’s rally.

Hyperliquid began as a decentralized exchange focused on perpetual futures tied to cryptocurrencies. Since then, it has expanded to include trading in equity indices, individual stocks, commodities, and major fiat currency pairs.

That expansion was enabled by Hyperliquid Improvement Proposal-3 (HIP-3), introduced in October 2025, which allows anyone staking 500,000 HYPE tokens to create markets for non-crypto assets.

The rollout coincided with a surge in traditional asset volatility, particularly in precious metals. Gold and silver have rallied sharply since late 2025, driving heavy trading volumes and fee generation on Hyperliquid. The silver-USDC market alone recorded more than $1 billion in trading volume over the past 24 hours.

Activity across HIP-3 markets has scaled rapidly. “Within just three months of this upgrade, Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 markets have captured over $1 billion in open interest, roughly $25 billion in total trading volume, and more than $3 million in fees—all transparently on-chain,” Jung said. He added that users globally are now able to trade equities—particularly in regions with limited access to U.S. markets—or gain exposure to the recent metals rally.

That surge in activity feeds directly into HYPE’s token economics. Hyperliquid operates a deflationary mechanism that uses protocol fees to buy back and burn HYPE tokens, with up to 97% of fee revenue allocated to removing tokens from circulation.

“It’s a deflationary mechanism not found in any other blockchain ecosystem, and an incredible structural tailwind for our treasury,” Jung said.

He added that Hyperliquid’s 24/7 trading environment gives participants continuous access to traditional assets, allowing them to react to global developments in real time—even outside regular market hours or on weekends—helping price discovery extend beyond the limits of traditional exchanges.