Is HYPE An Underrated Gem Of Crypto Investments?

For those cryptocurrency investors who have been around for a few bull runs, you’ll know just how fickle the market can get, especially when it comes to shiny new coins. I remember XRP in 2017. By 2026, the maxis were convinced it would be the new global reserve currency. 

In 2021, we had altcoins like Vechain landing huge sponsorships with UFC, and while it is one they have maintained, the price has gone from a high of $0.20, which at one point, placed it in the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap, to one where it is outside the top 75, now valued at less than 1 cent. 

So, for those Hyperliquid ultras who made a nice chunk of change when they airdropped their native token to loyal users in November 2024, their pontificating about how Hype is going to become the house of all finance has been met with a collective, unimpressed sigh. 

With all that said, though, Hyperliquid does have some seriously impressive elements. Unlike some of the projects of yesteryear, there are arguments to be made that it could become a powerhouse on the altcoin scene. Today, we’re going to take a look at them and give our verdict.

HIP-4 Developments

HIP-4, or Hyperliquid Improvement Proposal 4, is the full term for a very interesting proposal that could bring the market to a mass audience. We have seen that cryptocurrency betting has been a major driver of market growth since the start of the last bull run. This has encroached on every area of the crypto casino gaming market, from niche games to stalwarts like roulette.

To play crypto roulette, the only thing gamers need is a crypto wallet. Unlike more traditional platforms, which often involve extensive KYC processes and third-party payment processors that can delay payments, the direct peer-to-peer nature means money can be sent and transactions settled instantly on the blockchain. 

This is the ethos that HIP-4 aims to embrace, as prediction markets and gambling become a bigger part of the blockchain and cryptocurrency markets. It’s this multi-faceted approach that is already putting Hyperliquid comfortably ahead of its competition, but that’s not the only reason it is creating such distance between itself and the chasing pack. 

Slicing Through The Competition

The leader and chief, Jeff Yan, is a Harvard-educated computer scientist who has significant experience in the trading market. His ethos of turning Hyperliquid into an ecosystem, while he and his team of less than two dozen get to work on “housing all of finance,”—the growth of Hyperliquid has been staggering - at the time of writing, it is a top 12 coin by market cap. 

Hyperliquid ranks among the top DEXs (Decentralized Exchanges) on the market. Not only does it consistently rank in the top 5, but its design also has caveats that put it miles ahead of the competition. At risk of making this sound like a Hyperliquid promotional piece, from a trading perspective, the differences are clear as day. 

As somebody who has used Hyperliquid, dYdX, and ApeX, the differences are startling. Hyperliquid handles the highest amount of daily volume, has had the highest OI since its launch, with the exception of a few weeks when people farmed Aster, and handles 200,000 transactions per second, which is literally around 20 times faster than dYdX. It has a full smart-contract platform that neither competitor offers. 

The EVM, launched in 2025, sees billions of dollars in daily activity. Hypurr NFTs are currently trading at $13,500—the ecosystem is on another dimension to any other DEX, which is reflected in the token price and allows HYPE to sit in the top 12 cryptocurrencies by market cap, while the rest trail behind.

Monitoring Their Social Media Presence

Social media marketing in the cryptocurrency industry is a thin line. For those who can do it well, they can create an aura about their own brand that is hard to replicate. Hyperliquid, despite being “community-driven” according to their docs, often has people second-guessing their next move on social media. 

We’ve seen companies, particularly in video gaming, use social media and YouTube to market, as you can see in the link below, but the quieter approach can work too, especially for a project with Hyperliquid's long-term goals. 

It gives an insight into how the company works: they are tight-lipped, release only sporadic, professional bulletins every fortnight via their official channels, and Jeff will personally tweet if anything requires immediate attention. Their social media presence is remarkably measured.

Usually, confidence in a project is reflected in its token price, and given how Hyperliquid has been holding up in light of BTC capitulation, there’s every chance that it could be the altcoin that breaks through the mould at some stage. 

The Verdict

For it to surpass Dogecoin, Tron, and ADA is not the wildest analogy. It’s whether it will be able to grow to a point where it is able to challenge the likes of XRP and Ethereum, and it feels too early to make this prediction yet, despite how promising of a platform Hyperliquid has become in just a few years. 

It is one of the few top projects that consistently posts profits, it is a growth project, and it consists of a highly-talented, close-knit team who have the mentality, expertise, planning, and market knowledge and vision to bootstrap a DEX from a written idea to a platform that now handles trillions of dollars of volume. 

Taking a look at the top altcoins, it wouldn’t be beyond the realms of impossibiity to see Hype crack the top 5 at some stage. You’d be foolish to bet against them, either way.