Arthur Hayes isn't buying HYPE — at least that's what he's saying publicly. On Monday, blockchain sleuth Lookonchain flagged a wallet linked to Hayes that scooped up 33,978 HYPE tokens — roughly $2.09 million — from Bybit during Asian hours. The report briefly pushed HYPE up 2%, but Hayes shot it down almost immediately on Twitter: 'I didn't buy s**t.'
The denial and the sale that preceded it
Hayes had sold his entire HYPE position a few days earlier when the token was trading above $72, drawing criticism from the community. After that sale, HYPE slid to $54 before recovering. It's now trading above $61. The timing of Lookonchain's on-chain alert — right in the middle of Asian trading — made the market twitch, but Hayes' flat denial erased the move just as fast.
Hyperliquid hits a milestone
Amid the drama, Hyperliquid quietly crossed a threshold no DeFi protocol has reached since Uniswap in 2021: it became a top 10 crypto asset by market capitalization, surpassing Dogecoin. The milestone came as a newly created wallet moved 1.14 million HYPE tokens — worth about $79.22 million — off exchanges and into staking on Hyperliquid over the past week. That's a strong vote of confidence from someone willing to lock up a big chunk of supply.
The wallet behind the $79 million staking move hasn't been publicly identified. Whether it's an institution, a whale, or the project itself remains an open question. For now, the market is left watching whether Hayes' denial quiets the community chatter or if the sale and the supposed buy-back create more noise. One thing is clear: HYPE's climb to the top 10 has put a target on its back for both traders and on-chain detectives.
