Hyperliquid’s HYPE Token Sees Significant Price Movement After Team Token Unlock Reduction
Hyperliquid’s HYPE token has returned to the center of market attention after the project sharply reduced its monthly team token unlocks, a move that reignited discussion about whether the token could regain the $50 level of its previous high. The team presented the unlock schedule change as a way to reduce dilution and ease supply pressure at a time when competition in the perpetual futures market is still high.
From the information provided by the Hyperliquid team, the Hyperliquid group was reduced to approximately 140,000 HYPE tokens in February 2026, compared to approximately 1.2 million released in January, accounting for almost 90% of the team’s monthly releases. Core contributors have been allocated approximately 23.8% of HYPE’s maximum supply of 1 billion, subject to a one-year vesting period and a 24-month vesting period, with distributions now confirmed to occur on the 6th of each month.
HYPE Surges 55% in a Week as Hyperliquid Tightens Token Supply
The decision comes as Hyperliquid contends with weaker decentralized exchange revenues and growing competition between perpetual DEX platforms. By slowing the pace of team unlocks, the project has reduced short-term selling pressure, a factor that market participants have been closely monitoring since HYPE launched via a community airdrop in November 2024. More than 61% of the total supply remains locked, while the circulating supply is currently around 238 million tokens.
At the time of writing, HYPE was trading at around $33.9, up slightly on the day but posting a weekly gain of more than 55%. The token is still about 43% below its all-time high of $59.30, reached during a surge last year, with its market cap climbing to just over $8 billion.
Source: Coingecko
Open Interest and Trading Volume
The company announced this week that open interest (OI) for HIP-3 reached a record $790 million, driven by a recent surge in commodities trading. HIP-3 OI has hit new weekly highs, a significant increase from $260 million just a month ago. Additionally, the platform’s founder Jeff Yan said that Bitcoin futures liquidity on Hyperliquid has surpassed that of Binance in certain order book comparisons.
According to Flow Scan data, Hyperliquid has processed more than $25 billion in cumulative trading volume since its launch, with the majority coming from futures markets built by third-party teams using the HIP-3 framework. Hyperliquid’s total value is approximately $4.6 billion, with annual protocol revenue estimated at approximately $714 million. Some of it will be used for buybacks and burns to take HYPE out of circulation.
HYPE is Reaching Back to the 50-Day Moving Average After Months Below
From a technical perspective, analysts have highlighted an important change in HYPE’s pricing structure. After months of trading below its 50-day moving average on the three-day time frame, the token recently broke through that level, ending a series of lower highs that had defined the downtrend since November. The area between around $28 and $29, which previously acted as resistance, is now viewed as potential support.
Source: X/Batman
If this area sustains a retest, technicians see scope for a continuation towards the mid-$30s and low-$40s. A return to $50 would require a much larger move, which would be equivalent to an increase of around 80% from the previous support area. This rally would depend on sustained volume and sustained defense of the restored moving average, as well as overall favorable market conditions.
Analysts have observed that failure to clear the 50-day moving average will negate the bullish setup and HYPE will tend to fall to lows around the $20 mark. For more information, please visit https://cryptonews.com/news/hyperliquid-cuts-unlocks-90-percent-hype-rally/
