Arthur Hayes Sees 126x Upside in Hyperliquid’s HYPE Token
Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX and current CIO of venture firm Maelstrom, believes Hyperliquid’s HYPE token could deliver a 126-fold return, driven by the global rise of stablecoins and the shift toward on-chain trading.
Hyperliquid’s Edge
Unlike centralized players such as Binance or Coinbase, Hyperliquid operates fully on-chain with its own blockchain, specializing in perpetual futures. Its HYPE token underpins governance, staking rewards, and value capture from trading fees. Hayes describes the platform as a “decentralized Binance” — matching centralized speed while offering transparent execution and settlement.
The exchange, led by founder Jeff Yan, already commands nearly two-thirds of the decentralized perpetual futures market. Hayes argues its small team executes faster than competitors with hundreds of employees, positioning Hyperliquid to expand against larger incumbents.
Macro Tailwinds
Hayes ties his thesis to fiat debasement. As currencies lose value, savers turn to stablecoins like USDT and USDC. Once there, he argues, the natural next step is crypto speculation — with Hyperliquid capturing much of that activity.
The Valuation Case
Maelstrom projects the stablecoin market could reach $10 trillion by 2028. Applying Binance’s historical volume ratio, that implies $2.6 trillion in daily trading. With fees of 0.03%, revenues could top $258 billion annually. Discounted at 5%, that equates to a $5.16 trillion present value — versus HYPE’s current $41 billion valuation.
Hayes’s Conclusion
Hayes predicts Hyperliquid could ultimately overtake Binance itself. The forecast assumes stablecoin growth, fee stability, and market dominance — but if those hold, he argues, HYPE has unprecedented upside potential as the tokenized backbone of a new trading era.
