Hyperliquid’s HYPE token is trading close to $73, with trader Pentosh1 describing it as “the best performing asset in the bear market” and arguing that its deflationary design could support further gains during the next cryptocurrency bull cycle.
The token’s appeal centres on Hyperliquid’s system for returning platform revenue to HYPE holders. Almost all fees generated by the exchange’s perpetual futures and spot markets are used to buy HYPE on the open market before the tokens are permanently burned, rather than being retained in a company treasury.
Since November 2024, the programme has removed 462 million HYPE from circulation. Those tokens were worth approximately $1.27bn, while about 99% of the protocol’s fees have been directed towards buybacks.
The scale of the mechanism is closely linked to activity on Hyperliquid. The decentralised exchange is estimated to process between 40% and 70% of global decentralised perpetual futures volume, while its cumulative trading volume has reached trillions of dollars.
According to DefiLlama, Hyperliquid’s annualised protocol revenue is currently between $600m and $950m. That figure represents the fee pool supporting the buyback system before the impact of the forthcoming AQAv2 upgrade is included.
AQAv2 set to add to buyback pressure
Pentosh1 identified the imminent launch of AQAv2, or Aligned Quote Asset v2, as a major near-term catalyst for HYPE. The mechanism is due to go live in six days and is scheduled to begin accruing yield on 26 August. Its first payment is expected to reach Hyperliquid’s Assistance Fund on 3 October.
A validator vote earlier this year secured the 66.67% quorum required for the upgrade to proceed.
AQAv2 will operate differently from the existing buyback system. Instead of relying solely on trading fees, it will direct about 90% of the reserve yield generated by more than $5bn in USDC held on the platform into the same Assistance Fund.
Analysts estimate that could create an additional $135m to $160m in annual buyback pressure. That would be added to a programme that has already financed roughly $945m in cumulative purchases.
Coinbase, which was appointed Hyperliquid’s official USDC treasury deployer in May, and Circle have both committed to staking substantial HYPE positions to help activate the new framework.
HYPE was trading around $73 when Pentosh1 published the post, close to its record high of $76.67 reached on 16 June 2026.
The token has experienced considerable volatility in recent months. Its largest recent move followed remarks by US President Donald Trump at a White House meeting with cryptocurrency executives on 19 August. Trump said regulators at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), led by chairman Michael Selig, were “working to bring Hyperliquid into the United States in a fully compliant and legal fashion.”
HYPE rose by 20% to 25% over the following 24 hours, lifting its market capitalisation towards $18bn and making it the ninth-largest cryptocurrency by that measure.
However, Trump did not announce formal approval or provide a timetable. Hyperliquid’s interface also continues to prevent users in the United States from accessing the platform.
The latest rally follows an earlier milestone reached by Hyperliquid, when cumulative repurchases passed $1bn alongside a new high for the token. Pentosh1 and other traders say that performance shows the buyback system can expand with trading activity, rather than depending on repeated bursts of market excitement to remain effective.
