- Hyperliquid’s HYPE token surged 60% after distributing 310 million tokens worth $1.2 billion to its community in one of the biggest airdrops in DeFi history
- The HYPE token serves as the staking asset for consensus and gas token for Hyperliquid’s Ethereum Virtual Machine compatible layer, HyperEVM
- The airdrop distribution allocated 31% of HYPE’s 1 billion total supply to the community, with the rest allocated for future emissions, treasury, and grants
Hyperliquid, a layer-1 blockchain protocol, has completed one of the largest cryptocurrency airdrops in history. On November 29th, the project distributed 310 million HYPE tokens to community members. This genesis event placed the total value of the airdrop at $12 billion, instantly making it a top player in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space.
The Launch of Hyperliquid and the HYPE Token
Hyperliquid is built on proof-of-stake consensus and aims to process up to 200,000 transactions per second. The HYPE token serves as both the network’s staking asset and gas token for its Ethereum Virtual Machine compatible layer, HyperEVM.
Of the total supply of 1 billion HYPE tokens, 31% were distributed in the initial airdrop. The remaining tokens are allocated as follows:
- 38.8% for future emissions and community rewards
- 6% to the Hyper Foundation treasury
- 0.3% to grants
- 23.8% to core contributors under a 1-year lock up
- No allocations for private investors, exchanges, or market makers
The HYPE Token’s Post-Airdrop Price Performance
At launch, the HYPE token was valued at $3.90, putting the total airdrop at $12 billion. Within 12 hours, HYPE’s value had jumped 63% to $6.16. Its market capitalization quickly approached $2 billion.
This rapid surge places Hyperliquid’s airdrop among the most valuable in DeFi history. For comparison, Uniswap distributed 400 UNI tokens to each user in September 2020. While many cashed out instantly, those who held saw the token’s value skyrocket to over $42 within months.
The Future of Hyperliquid and HYPE
With strong price performance out of the gate, Hyperliquid and HYPE are poised to capture significant market share in the competitive DeFi landscape. The project now turns its focus to attracting developers and users to build on its high throughput platform.
If HYPE continues its early momentum, it may follow the trajectory of other top DeFi tokens like UNI. For now, the cryptocurrency community will be closely monitoring adoption of Hyperliquid and price action of its native token.
