Hyperliquid Sends $329M HYPE to Mystery Buyer, Sidestepping the Dump 🚀

Hyperliquid Labs is unstaking 3.75 million HYPE tokens today, valued at about $329 million, and routing the entire batch to a single institutional buyer through an over-the-counter transaction. The tokens represent the October payout to the Hyperliquid team, and co-founder iliensinc disclosed the arrangement on the project's Discord server on Wednesday. The 3.75 million HYPE batch equals roughly 1.5% of the token's current circulating supply.

The use of an OTC deal, a private transaction that bypasses public exchange order books, is intended to prevent the large token transfer from creating immediate sell pressure on the open market. Unstaking on Hyperliquid takes seven days, according to the project's documentation, meaning the tokens will reach the buyer after October 7. HYPE was trading at $90, up nearly 5% on the day of the announcement.

On-chain researcher steven.hl (@_stevenhl) posted on X that Hyperliquid Labs "has entered an OTC deal to sell 3.75M tokens to an institution for the October team unlock. None of it is being sold on the open market. Now we know why the team unlock did not occur as it regularly does this month." Hyperliquid is a blockchain built around a futures trading exchange.

Past HYPE unlocks have produced mixed price reactions, according to Tokenomist data. The token fell as much as 3% within 14 days of its August unlock and 7% after the July unlock, while the June unlock was followed by a 1% gain. These figures indicate that unlocks alone do not dictate price direction.

The October transaction carries its own uncertainty. No publicly disclosed lock-up period applies to the institutional buyer, meaning the 3.75 million HYPE could still be moved to exchange wallets after the October 7 delivery date. Public blockchain records will show where the tokens are sent once they reach the buyer. The announcement did not name the institution or disclose the price it paid for the tokens.