HYPE token hit around $48 on May 19, 2025, after synthetic SpaceX perpetual contracts — ticker SPCX — started trading on the Trade.xyz platform. The token had been hovering near $38 just six days earlier, meaning it gained roughly 24% in that window, according to data from Santiment. The move put HYPE within $11 of its all-time high near $59, set back in September 2025.
The SPCX Product and Its Impact
The new synthetic contracts peg their value to SpaceX, the private rocket company. Trade.xyz launched SPCX with an implied valuation of about $1.8 trillion for the firm. That figure alone drew attention to Hyperliquid, the layer-1 chain where HYPE is the native token and where most of the perpetual trading happens. Traders piled into the product, pushing real-world asset open interest on Hyperliquid to a record $2.6 billion — double where it stood two months earlier.
Regulatory and Ecosystem Catalysts
Social chatter around HYPE spiked for two other reasons last week. On May 14, the CLARITY Act passed, a piece of U.S. legislation that clarifies certain crypto asset classifications. Days later, Coinbase became an official USDC deployer on Hyperliquid, meaning the exchange can issue the stablecoin directly on the chain. Both events contributed to a surge in social dominance for the token, Santiment noted.
ETF Launches and Institutional Interest
Institutional products are piling in too. Bitwise launched a HYPE exchange-traded fund (BHYP) on May 15. That came just after 21Shares had debuted its own HYPE ETF, ticker THYP, which pulled in roughly $1.8 million in first-day trading volume and has since collected cumulative inflows of more than $12 million. The twin ETFs give traditional investors a regulated way to gain exposure to HYPE without holding the token directly.
Hyperliquid's Revenue and Volume Metrics
Hyperliquid itself has been a cash machine in 2025. The network generated over $255 million in protocol revenue so far this year, nearly all of it from perpetual trading fees. Roughly 97% of that revenue goes toward HYPE buybacks, which supports the token price. Hyperliquid has also maintained at least double the perpetual trading volume of the next-largest chain every month in 2025, underscoring its dominance in the derivatives niche.
At the time of writing, HYPE had risen 6.7% in the last 24 hours, 17% over the past week, and 11% on the month. Still, it sits 19% below its all-time high. The next test is whether the combination of a new synthetic product, regulatory tailwinds, and institutional ETF infrastructure can push it back past $59.
