Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan is making a big argument about how to value Hyperliquid's HYPE token — and it's not by the usual crypto yardstick. Speaking this week, Hougan said the project should be measured against the $600 trillion global asset market rather than crypto's roughly $3 trillion market cap. The claim comes as Bitwise's Hyperliquid ETF (BHYP) has pulled in about $60 million since its NYSE debut in May, making it the strongest single-asset crypto ETP launch since Bitcoin's spot ETF landed.
Why the global market matters
Hougan's point is that Hyperliquid isn't really a crypto platform in the traditional sense — it's a fintech application that happens to use crypto rails. Right now, about 50% of Hyperliquid's perpetual futures trading volume comes from non-crypto assets like S&P 500 and oil. Hougan expects that figure to hit over 90% eventually. If that holds, HYPE's value isn't tied to crypto adoption but to the entire world of tradable assets.
The Gen 2 token model
Hyperliquid's token is what Hougan calls a 'Gen 2 token' — trading fees are routed into token buybacks, a setup that sets it apart from older exchange tokens like BNB or FTT. HYPE currently ranks 11th by market cap, with the token sitting near $68 and showing 10% growth in the past 24 hours. But the model isn't proven at scale yet, and Hyperliquid still faces real competition from the NYSE, CME, and rival DeFi protocols.
US investors still locked out
There's a catch for American traders: they can't directly access Hyperliquid's offshore exchange. The BHYP ETF is the workaround. Bitwise built about 70% of the fund's infrastructure in-house, and the firm is putting 10% of management fees into HYPE holdings. That structure gives US investors a regulated way to get exposure — but they're betting on the token's buyback economics, not on trading the platform itself.
No guarantee of success
Hougan isn't pretending this is a sure thing. He acknowledged that Hyperliquid has no guarantee of winning against established players like the CME or NYSE, not to mention other DeFi protocols. The BHYP ETF's $60 million haul is a strong start, but it's still early. The real test will be whether Hyperliquid can keep pulling in non-crypto volume and whether the buyback model holds up as competition heats up. Next up: quarterly volume reports from the platform will show if the non-crypto share is actually growing toward that 90% target.
