According to The Block, Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan believes HYPE, Hyperliquid's native token, remains undervalued despite its strong performance. The token has emerged as the best-performing large-cap crypto asset of 2026, up 77% year-to-date. Hougan noted that while the platform generated $170 billion in trading volume during the past month, he believes investors are still underestimating its impact and value potential. The platform's evolution into a comprehensive financial super-app has driven annualized revenue estimated between $800 million and $1 billion, significantly expanding beyond its initial derivatives exchange focus.
As reported by The Block, Hougan expects Hyperliquid's trading platform to evolve beyond its current crypto focus. He anticipates that trading volume of non-crypto assets will grow from nearly half to 70% of total volume on the platform. The executive emphasized that while the market currently values Hyperliquid as a perpetual crypto futures exchange, it should be valued as a global super-app covering all assets with an addressable market worth $600 trillion, not only the $3 trillion crypto market. By expanding into equities, commodities, and prediction markets, the platform has demonstrated its transformation into a multi-asset financial ecosystem.
According to The Block, Hougan identified key regulatory hurdles for Hyperliquid's expansion. The perpetual futures exchange is not available to U.S. users and needs to be integrated into the regulatory system stateside. Bitwise recently launched its own HYPE-based exchange-traded fund (BHYP Hyperliquid ETF) and announced plans to use a portion of management fees generated to accumulate HYPE tokens. The ETF structure provides a mechanism for systematic token accumulation as the platform grows, with favorable regulatory conditions and new stablecoin partnerships further supporting its potential for continued expansion.
As reported by The Block, Hougan argued that under current SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, HYPE has the potential to be a 'Gen 2' token - similar to a security that can increase in value over time. He highlighted that 99% of trading fees generated on the Hyperliquid platform go directly to buying back HYPE, creating a direct correlation between platform growth and token value accrual. This fee structure provides transparency in the token's value creation mechanism, with the platform's evolution into a comprehensive financial super-app supporting its long-term value proposition.
