According to Arthur Hayes, chief investment officer of Maelstrom and co-founder of BitMEX, HYPE, the original asset of Hyperliquid, could rise to $150 if the platform maintains its dominance in permanent decentralized futures and opens up new revenue streams through permissionless markets.
In a blog post published on March 9, Hayes stated that HYPE is currently dwarfed by the revenue generated by its parent platform.
Data from DefiLlama, compiled on March 7, shows that the protocol generates more revenue than other DEX projects outside of stablecoin issuers. About 97% of this revenue goes directly to token purchases, creating a mechanical bid for HYPE in the secondary markets.
Maelstrom’s financial model projects that Hyperliquid could reach an annual revenue rate of $1.4 billion by August, matching its previous peak, with only a small change in trading volume from centralized exchanges.
According to Hayes, combined with strong buying, this not only creates supply pressure, but also provides a direct mechanism for translating platform revenue into token value.
“No other project in all of crypto has returned as much to token holders as Hyperliquid,” Hayes wrote in a note.
Trading above $32, the token is up 7% in the last day, though it remains 45% below its record high of $59 in September per on-chain data. An increase of $150 will increase the price by five times.
Maelstrom’s updated valuation shows that previous HYPE valuation pressures from low-to-zero competing DEXs are less of a concern.
Hyperliquid shows the highest trading activity among permanent decentralized platforms, with a low daily volume to open interest ratio that reflects actual capital trading, not incentive or wash volume.
Combined with industry-leading performance, with low slippage even on large trades, Hyperliquid is positioned to retain and attract serious traders despite competitors’ token incentive programs.
If the platform continues to expand its offerings and attract real trading volume, Hayes believes the token could see rapid appreciation over the next few months.
