Hyperliquid Labs Unstakes $31.2M in HYPE Tokens for Team – What’s the Play?

A massive chunk of HYPE just hit the market—or at least, it's no longer locked up.

Hyperliquid Labs, the development force behind the Hyperliquid perpetual futures exchange, just executed a significant treasury move. The team unstaked a hefty $31.2 million worth of its native HYPE tokens, freeing them from the protocol's vesting schedule.

The Mechanics of the Move

This isn't a random sell-off. The action involves converting staked, time-locked tokens into liquid ones earmarked for the project's core contributors. It's a planned allocation, part of the incentive structure baked into the protocol's economics from day one. Think of it as the team's portion of the pie finally becoming accessible.

Market Signals and Speculation

Movements of this scale always send ripples. While the immediate purpose is internal compensation, the market watches for what comes next. Will these tokens be held, strategically deployed, or gradually diversified? The unlock shifts the supply dynamics, introducing a new variable for traders to price in. For a protocol built on leveraged speculation, it's a fittingly meta moment.

In the grand theater of crypto, where 'long-term alignment' often means 'until our cliff vesting ends,' this is simply the script playing out. The real test is what the team builds with the capital they've just unlocked.

Earlier in December, validators approved the permanent burn of roughly 37 million HYPE tokens (worth about $1 billion at the time) from the Assistance Fund. This fund, which accumulates nearly all trading fees for automated token buybacks, saw its holdings formally excluded from circulating and total supply calculations. The burn reduced supply by over 13%, reinforcing Hyperliquid’s deflationary tokenomics and boosting community confidence.

Hyperliquid’s performance in 2025

Hyperliquid capped 2025 with impressive fundamentals, with its cumulative trading volume reaching $3.35 trillion, revenue topped $848 million, and the total value locked (TVL) stood at $4.15 billion, as per DeFillama data. Throughout the year, more than 600,000 new users joined the protocol, cementing its position as decentralized finance’s (DeFi’s) most profitable venue.

However, Hyperliquid is navigating through a dim phase since the past couple of months, with its revenue diminishing significantly in December. The quarterly revenue for the platform peaked at $302 million in Q3 2025 but dipped 7% to $281 million in Q4. 

Its weekly revenue recently hit a low of $9.16 million—the weakest since early May—amid broader market consolidation. While the daily perp volume remains robust at around $1.8 billion, the competition and incentive fatigue are taking a toll. 

Perp DEX narrative: End or a new beginning?

The perp DEX narrative, which exploded in 2025 with monthly volumes surpassing $1 trillion at peaks, remains a Core DeFi trend but shows maturation. Hyperliquid once held 70-80% market share, but challengers like Lighter, Aster, and EdgeX have eroded dominance through innovations like zero-fee models, multi-chain support, and permissionless markets. 

While perp trading volumes grew dramatically year-over-year, recent data indicates stabilization, with farming-driven activity cooling as users demand sustainable economics over points chasing. Hyperliquid’s edge lies in real revenue accrual, with 99% of its total fees allocated for HYPE buybacks, a MOVE creating a flywheel absent in many rivals. 

Read: DWF Labs Unveils $75M DeFi Fund to Invest in Perp DEXs, Money Markets

At the time of publishing, Aster was leading among all perpetual DEXs in 24-hour trading volume, sitting at $2.624 billion. Lighter with $2.514 billion followed in the second place, Hyperliquid with $1.847 billion at third, and EdgeX having $1.245 billion at the fourth position. 

However, Hyperliquid has the highest open interest (OI) among all, accounting for nearly 45% of total at $7.755 billion. Open interest is the total number of outstanding (unsettled) derivative contracts, such as futures or perpetual swaps, that have been opened but not yet closed, liquidated, or expired. 

What’s next for Hyperliquid?

Looking ahead, Hyperliquid’s roadmap focuses largely on ecosystem expansion. Some of its key initiatives include full HIP-3 implementation for permissionless perpetual market creation via staking, deeper HyperEVM integration for builder tools, and potential mobile apps or cross-chain enhancements. 

With portfolio margin already live and institutional custody integrations in progress, 2026 could see revenue rebound through new products like equities perps or universal collateral. 

Hyperliquid’s native token HYPE is currently trading NEAR $26, up 3.66% in the past seven days, but down 56% from its September all-time high of $59, as per CoinMarketCap data. The latest downtrend in HYPE price reflects resilience amid unlocks and competition. As the team unlock proceeds predictably, Hyperliquid positions itself for sustained leadership in a competitive but still-vibrant perp DEX sector. 

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