HYPE at $40 With $4M Whale Buys and a Grayscale ETF Filing — What Is Happening on Hyperliquid

The Setup: HYPE at $40, Close to Its All-Time High

As of March 25, 2026, HYPE is trading at approximately $40–$41 — within striking distance of its year-to-date high of $43. The token has doubled from its January low of $20, outperforming Bitcoin, Ethereum, and nearly every other top-10 crypto asset in 2026.

But price alone does not tell the full story. What makes this particular moment interesting is what is happening underneath the surface: whale wallets are actively accumulating, institutional filings are piling up, and on-chain activity just hit record highs.

The $4M Whale Buys That Are Getting Attention

On-chain data from March 25 shows two significant whale moves on Hyperliquid:

Wallet 0x96d: Deposited $2M USDC and increased its HYPE position to 427,851 tokens. Total cost basis: $15.08M at an average of $35.24. Current value: approximately $17.2M. Unrealized profit: $2.14M and rising.

New wallet 0xa58: Deposited another $2M USDC and immediately bought approximately 51,850 HYPE near current market prices.

Combined: $4M in fresh capital deployed into HYPE in a single day, with the larger wallet already sitting on a $2M+ profit and choosing to add rather than reduce.

This is not retail noise. These are informed actors making a directional bet with significant size.

Grayscale Files for a HYPE ETF on Nasdaq

On March 20, Grayscale Investments submitted a Form S-1 to the SEC for the "Grayscale HYPE ETF" — a passive grantor trust holding HYPE tokens directly, targeting a Nasdaq listing under ticker GHYP.

Grayscale is not alone. Bitwise and 21Shares have already filed similar applications. Three separate asset managers racing to launch the first U.S.-listed HYPE ETF is not coincidence — it signals that institutional demand for regulated HYPE exposure is real and growing.

For context: HYPE did not exist two years ago. The speed of institutional interest here rivals what we saw with Bitcoin ETF filings in 2023.

Record Active Traders and $844M in Annual Revenue

The same week as the ETF filing and the S&P 500 perpetual launch, Hyperliquid hit a record 229,818 active traders — an all-time high for the platform.

The 2025 annual report data puts the growth in context:

• $2.95 trillion in total trading volume for 2025
• $844 million in protocol revenue
• 609,700 new users added during the year
• Third-party ecosystem revenue: $100M annualized run rate in Q1 2026, up from $6M in Q1 2025

The S&P 500 perpetual contract (officially licensed, launched March 18 via Trade[XYZ]) and oil perpetuals ($1.7B daily volume at peak) are driving an entirely new category of user to Hyperliquid: macro traders who previously had no reason to touch DeFi.

What the Orderflow Data Says

Looking at the current orderflow picture on Buildix:

CVD (Cumulative Volume Delta): Buy volume has been consistently absorbing sell pressure over the past 48 hours. No bearish divergence at current price levels.

VPIN: Elevated above 0.5 — informed trader activity is above normal. This aligns with the whale accumulation data.

Long/Short Ratio: Retail remains cautiously positioned, which is historically a contrarian bullish signal. Whales are on the opposite side.

Key levels: $43 is the YTD resistance. A close above $43 on strong volume would represent a structural breakout. Support sits at $37 — the level that held during the recent macro-driven dip.

The Bull Case in Three Points

1. Buyback flywheel is accelerating. 97% of all Hyperliquid fees go to buy HYPE daily. More volume (oil, S&P 500, commodities) means more fees means more buybacks. Track it live on our HYPE Burns tracker.

2. Institutional access is opening. ETF filings from three asset managers means regulated buyers could enter as soon as approval comes through. This is the same setup that preceded Bitcoin's explosive run after ETF approval.

3. Smart money is not selling. The Hyperliquid team chose not to sell most of their monthly token allocations. Wallet 0x96d just added $2M instead of cashing out a $2M profit. That is the signal.

The Bear Case

Key risks to the bull thesis:

• $43 resistance holds: Rejection at ATH could trigger stop cascades down to $35
• ETF rejections: SEC has a track record of delays; any denial would remove the institutional narrative
• Macro deterioration: Oil shock or geopolitical escalation hitting risk assets broadly
• Competitor pressure: Rivals with lower fees could gradually erode Hyperliquid's 70%+ share of perp DEX revenue

Track the Whales Yourself

Our Hyperliquid screener shows CVD, OBI, funding rates, and open interest across 530+ pairs in real-time. The deep view for any pair includes VPIN, orderflow imbalance, absorption detection, and whale trade alerts.

Free screener — no account required. Deep view available from the Starter plan.

Not financial advice. Always do your own research.