Arthur Hayes Sees Hyperliquid’s HYPE Token as Next “Decentralized Binance” With 126x Upside
Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX and now chief investment officer at venture firm Maelstrom, has issued one of the boldest forecasts in crypto: Hyperliquid’s HYPE token could appreciate by 126 times its current value.
Hyperliquid, a decentralized exchange operating entirely on its own blockchain, specializes in perpetual futures. Its HYPE token powers governance, staking, and revenue sharing, effectively giving holders a stake in the platform’s growth. Hayes argues its speed and execution rival centralized giants like Binance while maintaining full on-chain transparency.
The thesis rests on macro trends. Hayes contends that fiat debasement forces savers into stablecoins, which increasingly serve as entry points for speculation. In his model, global stablecoin supply could expand to $10 trillion by 2028. Applying Binance’s historical trading ratios, that translates to daily volumes of $2.6 trillion on platforms like Hyperliquid, producing as much as $258 billion in annual fees. Discounting those revenues gives a present value near $5.16 trillion, compared to HYPE’s current fully diluted value of about $41 billion.
Hayes frames the opportunity in stark terms: Hyperliquid could one day surpass Binance as the dominant crypto exchange. Still, the assumptions are aggressive — requiring stablecoin growth, sustained market share, and fee stability. Even so, Hayes insists the structural trend is clear: a world that saves in stablecoins will speculate on-chain, with Hyperliquid positioned to capture the flow.
