While the broader cryptocurrency market faces significant challenges, Hyperliquid treasury firms are bucking the trend and maintaining profitability despite recent market volatility. According to latest data from Artemis, Hyperliquid Strategies, the largest HYPE treasury company, holds roughly 23.7 million HYPE and is up more than $1.1 billion on an unrealized basis despite the token's recent pullback from an all-time high above $74 earlier this week. Hyperion DeFi, which holds just over 2 million HYPE according to its latest SEC filing, is also still in positive territory with around $35 million in unrealized gains. This performance stands in stark contrast to the broader digital asset treasury sector, where virtually all major bitcoin, ether and Solana treasury companies are now sitting on billions of dollars in unrealized losses as underlying assets slide to multi-year lows.
The cryptocurrency market experienced significant selling pressure on Friday, with Hyperliquid (HYPE) recording the steepest decline among major cryptocurrencies, falling 10.5% to $65.24. Despite the sharp drop, HYPE maintained its position as the leader in perpetual trading activity with $1.85 billion in daily trading volume and a market capitalization of $14.52 billion. Bitcoin (BTC) outperformed most major assets by limiting losses to just 0.1%, trading at $62,742.49 while posting $55.14 billion in daily volume and maintaining a market capitalization above $1.25 trillion. Ethereum (ETH) moved lower by 1.5% to $1,737.59 while processing more than $23.23 billion in trading activity, with its market capitalization standing at $209.97 billion. However, Hyperliquid now faces regulatory scrutiny after the UK Financial Conduct Authority issued a warning on May 21, stating that the platform and related entities may be offering financial services without authorization in the United Kingdom.
The digital asset treasury sector's decline is most evident in established companies that pioneered the model. Strategy (MSTR), the largest corporate bitcoin holder and the firm that popularized the blueprint for the modern crypto treasury model, is now sitting on more than $12.8 billion in unrealized losses despite first beginning to accumulate BTC when it traded near $10,000. The company's average acquisition cost has climbed to roughly $75,000 per bitcoin after years of purchases, with recent swings being extreme - when bitcoin surpassed $126,000 last October, Strategy was sitting on more than $14 billion in unrealized gains before flipping into roughly $9.5 billion of losses in February. Japan-based Metaplanet, one of the earliest adopters, is carrying nearly $1.7 billion in unrealized losses on its bitcoin holdings, while its U.S.-listed shares recently fell to around $1.40, their lowest prices since adopting the strategy in 2024.
Ethereum treasury companies face significant challenges as ETH plunged below $1,550 on Friday, its lowest level in more than a year. Bitmine, chaired by Fundstrat's Tom Lee and the world's largest ether treasury company, holds more than 5.4 million ETH worth approximately $8.6 billion at current prices, but Artemis data estimates the company is carrying roughly $10.5 billion in unrealized losses on those holdings. Bitmine's position represents nearly 4.5% of Ethereum's entire circulating supply, and the company has previously stated its goal is to push that to 5% of all ETH. Sharplink, another major ether DAT, holds nearly 869,000 ETH and is looking at a paper loss of around $1.8 billion. Solana treasury firms, while being less established, have also come under pressure as SOL fell below $65 on Friday, its lowest level since late 2023. Forward Industries, the largest publicly traded Solana treasury company, now faces approximately $1.2 billion in unrealized losses on its holdings of more than 6.8 million SOL.
Major operators of regulated exchanges are beginning to study whether similar products could gain a larger foothold in traditional financial markets. Speaking at Piper Sandler's Global Exchange & Fintech conference on June 4, CME Group Chief Executive Terry Duffy criticized the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's decision to allow regulated crypto perpetual futures in the U.S., arguing that the highly leveraged products introduce risks that many market participants may underestimate. Duffy said perpetual futures can allow traders to maintain positions indefinitely while using leverage that may reach 50 times the deposited capital, with automatic liquidation mechanisms and funding-rate costs potentially exposing retail investors to significant losses. However, Intercontinental Exchange Chief Executive Jeffrey Sprecher took a different approach, stating that ICE was studying Hyperliquid's model and discussing with regulators why traditional venues could not offer comparable products. This development comes as regulated crypto perpetual futures began entering the U.S. market, with the CFTC approving the first regulated crypto perpetual futures products for U.S. participants on May 29.
Following the regulatory approval, prediction market operator Kalshi launched Bitcoin perpetual futures and introduced Ethereum perpetual futures on June 4, with another 11 cryptocurrency perpetual futures contracts, including products tied to Solana and Dogecoin, remaining under review. Coinbase Financial Markets received regulatory guidance allowing eligible institutional clients in the United States to access perpetual futures and options listed on Deribit, the derivatives exchange acquired by Coinbase in 2025. Kraken has also announced plans to offer regulated Bitcoin perpetual futures through Bitnomial Exchange, a regulated platform acquired by parent company Payward earlier this year. This expansion represents a significant shift from the market previously being dominated by offshore platforms to regulated U.S. venues offering perpetual futures products.
