Hyperliquid Achieves 31% Token Airdrop On First Day; Price Action Drives FDV To $4.2 Billion

The native token of Hyperliquid’s Layer 1 blockchain, HYPE witnessed an explosive launch, as it surged 125% within hours of going live. 

The Perfect Airdrop!

Users happily termed it as ‘perfect airdrop’ and asked other projects to take note of how an airdrop should be done. Remarkably, there was no downtime, delays, lags, or insider selling. This flashed a wave of excitement and analysis within the crypto community. 

Hyperliquid’s airdrop recipients took to X to share their experience and gains from the event. One of the users of the decentralized derivatives exchange reported massive gains exceeding $300,000 from their airdropped tokens.

The price action has driven the fully diluted valuation to about $4.2 billion. Currently, over 333 million tokens are in circulation out of a total supply of 1 billion, with a market capitalization of around $1.4 billion.

Demand Outpaces Supply

The total supply of the HYPE token was capped at 1 billion tokens. After the token generation, 31.0% (or 310 million) of fully unlocked tokens were distributed to eligible community users as an airdrop.  Each point earned resulted in 5 tokens for eligible users.

Generally, airdropped tokens face immediate sell pressure as airdrop hunters attempt to extract maximum value. However, this was not the case with HYPE, as there are signs that demand for HYPE has outpaced supply, and there could be strong upside momentum. 

Notably, Hyperliquid allocated no tokens to private investors, centralized exchanges, or market makers. 31% of tokens are reserved for the community airdrop, while 24% will support core contributors, 39% will be used for future emissions and community rewards and 6% will fund the Hyper Foundation.

The token’s launch was welcomed with significant market activity. One of the biggest Hyperliquid whales was reportedly granted 508,985 HYPE in the aidrop event. Trading volume surpassed an impressive $250 million over the past 24 hours, exhibiting strong demand.

The launch paves the way for significant developments. It plan to move towards greater decentralization through community governance and expand its validator network.

Researcher Praises

The introduction of HYPE will enable the integration of external validators to enhance operational security and decentralization. Aylo, a researcher at Alpha Please, highlighted the importance of product-market fit (PMF) in the project’s success.

“PMF + airdrop actually works. You just have to identify the protocols/apps that people will continue to use regardless of the airdrop because the product is actually good/solves a problem. Many examples of this cycle: Jito, Kamino, HyperLiquid, Grass, etc,” Aylo noted.

Expert Urges To Exercise Caution

However, some experts have urged to exercise caution. Airdrop researcher FIP Crypto advised investors to be cautious of projects that depend entirely on airdrops to attract users.

“If the project keeps shilling their airdrop as the only way to onboard users, it’s an immediate red flag for me.” he noted. HYPE has not held any funding rounds, with its first token-unlock event scheduled for November 2025. 

Hyperliquid’s Future Plans

Notably, the token generation event and HYPE’s impressive surge mirror strong community support and rising interest in its ecosystem. Hyperliquid is also preparing to launch its HyperEVM, which will bring Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility to its blockchain. This update will allow Ethereum developers to deploy decentralized applications (dApps) directly on Hyperliquid’s platform and will leverage the DEX’s gasless trading and rapid transaction speeds.

As Hyperliquid transitions into its next phase, the launch of HyperEVM and its push toward decentralization will solidify its place as a leader in DeFi innovation