Key Notes
- Hyperliquid’s $60M HYPE unlock hit a market stuck in a prolonged downtrend.
- On-chain data shows most contributors held or restaked their tokens.
- Technicals place HYPE at the bottom of a falling wedge.
The team behind decentralized exchange Hyperliquid released 1.75 million HYPE tokens to developers and core contributors, worth more than $60.4 million, as part of its long-standing vesting schedule.
The unlocking comes on the first anniversary of Hyperliquid’s historic airdrop, one of the largest and most community-focused token launches ever seen. On the other hand, the price of the HYPE token dropped more than 23% in the past month and almost 5% in the last 24 hours, as per CoinMarketCap data .
The Hyperliquid team confirmed that 1.75 million HYPE tokens were unlocked on Saturday for developers and core contributors, worth over $60.4 million at current prices. According to Hyperliquid developer iliensinc, the unlock is part of the project’s predefined vesting schedule… pic.twitter.com/SLd346io08
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) November 30, 2025
Not an Unusual Event
According to Hyperliquid developer iliensinc , this event isn’t unusual. He reminded users that back in November 2024, nearly 270 million tokens fully unlocked in the largest airdrop in crypto history, now valued at about $9.5 billion. Moreover, Hyperliquid has no VC unlocks or investor vesting.
Analyst KirbyCrypto confirmed that the founder-tier wallet received 170,619 HYPE, senior-tier (14 wallets) got 1,049,986 HYPE, and mid-tier (2 wallets) dropped 99,998 HYPE. Meanwhile, the smaller wallets received 30,000 HYPE, and the remaining (9 wallets) got 395,406 HYPE. That adds up to 1,745,746 HYPE.
Hyperliquid TGE Unlock and What Actually Happened
The first major unlock just passed. Here's how tokens were distributed and what team members did with it.
Distribution
• Largest wallet (Founder-tier): 170,619 HYPE
• Senior-tier (14 wallets): 1,049,986 HYPE
• Mid-tier (2… pic.twitter.com/2zw4aSsWNH— kirbycrypto.hl 🌊🏄♂️ (@kirbyongeo) November 29, 2025
Token Distribution
The analyst confirmed that about 23.4% (609,100 HYPE) was sold OTC to Flowdesk and roughly 9% was re-staked. Also, around 35% stayed untouched, and Hyperlabs re-staked another 33%. It is clear that most contributors aren’t dumping. Re-staking and holding dominate the behavior.
Crypto McKenna’s analysis revealed that restaking covered more than 40% of core contributor allocations, while a little over 23% moved to Flowdesk. His projections for 2026 show that Hyperliquid may generate far more buy-side flow than sell-side pressure even in a worst-case liquidation scenario.
Some back of the envelope calculations on the first Hyperliquid core contributors unlock:
> 2.6M HYPE distributed w/ 41.89% restaked by Hyperlabs and team members
> 23.42% of the unlock was sent to Flowdesk and 34.69% remains as spot HYPE on HyperCore
> If we look at 2026 buy… pic.twitter.com/f1qtU8dT1r
— McKenna (@Crypto_McKenna) November 30, 2025
Interestingly, Modelled buy pressure crosses $2.1 billion based on revenue, while potential sell pressure sits near $598 million.
HYPE Price Analysis: A Market Near Exhaustion
The HYPE chart shows that the altcoin is trapped inside a falling wedge that stretches back to September. Price trades near the lower boundary of the pattern and stays under the 200-day moving average.
A bullish break above the wedge’s upper trendline could send HYPE back toward the mid-$40 range, with $36 and $41 as early key levels. A clean breakout above the 200-day level would open a path toward September’s high .
HYPE price chart inside wedge | Source: TradingView
A bearish outcome remains possible if the price slips under the wedge support. That would expose the $30 zone, where volatility tends to expand sharply. A deeper pullback to $20s could be possible if $30 doesn’t hold.
