Hyperliquid (HYPE) Price: ETF Volume Jumps 50% as Token Climbs 120% Year-to-Date

TLDR

• HYPE ETFs from Bitwise and 21Shares saw a 50% trading volume jump, with $25.5 million in combined net inflows on Wednesday alone.
• Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas called this volume buildup “very rare,” saying most ETFs drop off after day one.
• HYPE is up 120% year-to-date and 18.5% in the past day, trading at $56.
• Santiment data shows a short squeeze played out after heavy short positioning on May 18-19 backfired as the price kept climbing.
• Open interest in HYPE futures has stayed above $1.92 billion, with new traders continuing to enter positions even as others were liquidated.

---

Hyperliquid’s native token HYPE has climbed to $56, up 18.5% in the past 24 hours and 120% so far in 2025, according to CoinGecko data.

The rally has been tied closely to fresh institutional interest in the token, driven by a pair of new US-listed ETFs.

Two ETFs tied to HYPE — one from 21Shares (ticker: THYP) and one from Bitwise (ticker: BHYP) — have recorded nearly $41 million in total traded value since their launches earlier this month.

21Shares launched its fund on May 12 to $1.2 million in net inflows. Bitwise followed on May 14 with $750,000 in inflows.

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted on X that the volume increase was “very rare.” He said most new ETFs see a big first-day splash, then go quiet. HYPE’s ETFs did the opposite, building volume over time.

$THYP & $BHYP both with a 50% jump in volume (again) today, headed for a combined $40m in trading. A perfectly timed launch as EVERYTHING (stocks, bonds, gold, btc, cryptos) is down lately except the HYPE, which is up 27% since THYP’s 5/12 launch. pic.twitter.com/RBlXwu54jB

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) May 20, 2026

Balchunas attributed this to timing: almost everything else — stocks, bonds, Bitcoin, gold — has been falling, while HYPE has continued higher.

Short Squeeze Fuels the Rally

Crypto analytics firm Santiment explained on X that traders had aggressively bet against HYPE on May 18 and 19. Funding rate data showed a sharp spike in negative rates, a sign that many traders were opening short positions expecting the price to fall.

🥳 Hyperliquid’s native token, HYPE, just pushed back above $50 for the first time in roughly 8 months after traders aggressively bet against the rally on May 18th and 19th. Funding rate data across exchanges showed a major spike in negative funding, which usually means large… pic.twitter.com/hUdSMhmpWf

— Santiment Intelligence (@SantimentData) May 20, 2026

Instead, the price kept rising. That forced short sellers to buy back their positions, which added more upward pressure — a classic short squeeze, according to Santiment.

Open interest in HYPE futures remains above $1.92 billion. Santiment noted that, unlike typical liquidation events, new traders kept entering the market even as others were being forced out.

Wednesday marked the highest day of net inflows for both ETFs. The 21Shares fund took in $16.6 million, and the Bitwise fund added $8.8 million.

Analyst Sees Path to $60

Crypto analyst AltcoinSherpa has said that “$60 is probably next” for HYPE. He described the current $50 zone as less than ideal for short-term traders but more attractive for longer-term holders given what he sees as limited downside risk.

$HYPE to $60 as next stop probably…this is going to prob keep grinding up as long as the market is uncertain as well bc ppl like to buy ‘safer assets’. Prob wouldn’t fire in this area as an active trade but if you’re just buying and holding, I think you have to worry too much pic.twitter.com/7LgfG4WH9n

— Altcoin Sherpa (@AltcoinSherpa) May 20, 2026

Technically, HYPE has been holding above a support zone between $45 and $47. The RSI has stayed in the 50–65 range, below the overbought threshold of 70. MACD indicators have shown bullish crossover signals.

Immediate resistance sits between $50 and $52. A clean break above that range could open a path toward the previous all-time high near $59.

Grayscale also filed for a HYPE ETF in March. On-chain tracker Lookonchain reported that two wallets linked to Grayscale purchased $25 million in HYPE over the past week and staked it.

HYPE was last trading at approximately $51.62, up 8.36% in the 24 hours prior to press time.