Hyperliquid’s HYPE Outperforms Bear Market as AQAv2 Nears Launch

A Trader’s Bull Case for HYPE

Crypto trader Pentosh1 argues that HYPE, the native token of the Hyperliquid derivatives exchange, is “the best performing asset in the bear market” while also adding that the token’s dynamics could easily carry it through the next bull cycle.

The trader’s case rests on Hyperliquid’s revenue-sharing structure where nearly all of the trading fees generated by the platform’s perpetual futures and spot markets are funneled back into buying and burning HYPE on the open market, rather than sitting in a company treasury.

That mechanism has already moved a meaningful share of supply as Hyperliquid has burned 462 million HYPE tokens worth roughly $1.27 billion since November 2024, with about 99% of protocol fees funding the buybacks.

The scale of that burn program is tied directly to how much trading Hyperliquid actually processes. The exchange is estimated to handle between 40% and 70% of all decentralized perpetual futures volume, and its lifetime trading volume has already reached into the trillions of dollars.

Annualized protocol revenue currently sits between $600 million and $950 million, according to Defillama, which is the pool of fees the buyback engine draws from before any of the AQAv2 upgrade is factored in.

AQAv2 Adds a Second Revenue Stream

In terms of why HYPE has been performing well, Pentosh1 pointed to a specific near-term catalyst, i.e. the mechanism known as AQAv2, short for Aligned Quote Asset v2, which will go live in 6 more days and begin accruing value. A validator vote for AQAv2 cleared the required 66.67% quorum earlier this year, and the schedule calls for yield accrual to begin on August 26, with the first payment landing in Hyperliquid’s Assistance Fund on October 3.

Unlike the existing buyback program, which draws only from trading fees, AQAv2 directs roughly 90% of the reserve yield earned on the more than $5 billion in USDC held on the platform into that same Assistance Fund.

Analysts estimate the mechanism could add $135 million to $160 million in additional annual buyback pressure on top of an engine that has already funded roughly $945 million in cumulative purchases. Coinbase, designated as Hyperliquid’s official USDC treasury deployer in May, and Circle have both committed to staking sizable HYPE positions to help activate the framework.

Price Action and the Trump Effect

HYPE was trading around $73 at the time of Pentosh1’s post, not far off its all-time high of $76.67 set on June 16, 2026. The token has been volatile in recent months, and its sharpest recent move came after President Donald Trump told crypto executives at a White House meeting on August 19 that regulators at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), under Chairman Michael Selig, were “working to bring Hyperliquid into the United States in a fully compliant and legal fashion.”

The remarks sent HYPE up 20% to 25% in 24 hours, pushed its market capitalization toward $18 billion, and made it the ninth-largest cryptocurrency by that measure, even though Trump announced no formal approval or timeline and Hyperliquid’s interface still blocks U.S. users.

Lastly, it bears mentioning that the rally builds on a buyback milestone the platform passed earlier this year, when Hyperliquid’s cumulative repurchases first crossed a billion dollars alongside a fresh token high, evidence, Pentosh1 and other traders argue, that the burn mechanism scales with trading activity rather than needing fresh hype cycles to keep functioning.