Bitcoin is booming again. The cryptocurrency climbed above $78,200 on Friday for the first time since May. But it wasn’t the only crypto asset to post big gains. Hyperliquid, the decentralized perpetual futures exchange, hit a record high of $75, sending its HYPE token up over 195% so far this year. after to CoinGecko.
According to Ish Asad, a research analyst at crypto index fund manager Bitwise Investments, Hyperliquid’s gains have gained market share that might otherwise have flowed into Bitcoin.
“If hyperliquid and perpetual futures weren’t so popular, people would just buy spot Bitcoin,” Asad said Assets.
Hyperliquid, which allows users to trade through self-custody wallets rather than a traditional centralized exchange, has emerged as a major force in crypto derivatives trading over the past year. In the first quarter of 2026, the platform processed a combined spot and perpetual futures volume of more than $633 billion, more than six times the total volume in the second quarter of 2024. after to investment manager VanEck.
Its growing success has “sucked away volume” through direct purchases of smaller crypto tokens. Perpetual futures allow traders to speculate on the price of a cryptocurrency, often with leverage, without purchasing or holding the token itself, making the platform attractive to active traders.
“All crypto trading now takes place on Hyperliquid, so there is less buying pressure for most other crypto assets,” Asad added.
Hyperliquid’s latest price spike came two days after President Donald Trump said his administration was working to bring the platform to the US
“I understand that [Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair] microphone [Selig] “We are also working to bring hyperliquid into the United States in a completely compliant and legal way and are working very hard on that,” Trump said at an event at the White House.
Behind the rally
Although Hyperliquid is withdrawing some capital through direct Bitcoin purchases, the cryptocurrency is here to stay increased almost 25% in the last week. Macro factors, including the Treasury’s recent bond buyback noticehelped jump-start the rally, but Asad said liquidations drove Bitcoin’s recent rise.
On Tuesday, when Bitcoin was trading at around $64,000, traders liquidated $1.3 billion worth of short positions in a single day. According to Bitwise, another $1 billion worth of Bitcoin shorts were liquidated in the following 48 hours, bringing the week’s total to $4.5 billion.
Political developments also contributed to the rally. At a meeting with crypto industry leaders this week, Trump called on Congress to pass the Clarity Act, a bill that would create a long-awaited market structure framework for digital assets. On Thursday, Selig said he had directed the CFTC to begin developing clearer crypto rules if Congress does not pass the legislation before the end of the year.
Meanwhile, concerns about U.S. debt overrun are becoming apparent 40 trillion dollars and a weakening U.S. dollar have renewed investor interest in alternative assets such as gold and Bitcoin.