Hayes made the warning in an interview before disclosing on June 4 that he had sold his entire HYPE position.
Hype Token News
Traditional financial exchanges are preparing to enter the perpetual futures market, and that competition could put direct pressure on Hyperliquid (HYPE), according to BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes. Hayes made the warning in an interview before disclosing on June 4 that he had sold his entire HYPE position. "All these traditional exchanges are going to be forced to launch a competing product," he said. "By next year, we're going to see some decently liquid products in TradFi that use this perpetual swap architecture."
Perpetual futures are derivatives contracts that carry no expiration date. Traders hold positions open indefinitely while periodic funding payments keep contract prices tied to spot markets. Hayes introduced the first perpetual futures contract at BitMEX in 2016, drawing on a framework developed by Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller in the early 1990s. Centralized exchanges and established financial institutions, Hayes said, are now actively pushing into the same space.
Fee-Burn Model Leaves HYPE Exposed
Hayes pinpointed a specific vulnerability in how Hyperliquid sustains demand for its native token. The protocol uses a share of its trading fees to purchase HYPE from the open market and permanently destroy those tokens. That mechanism is designed to reduce supply over time, but Hayes said it creates a direct link between trading volume and token value. A loss of market share to a better-capitalized competitor would reduce fee revenue and slow the burn rate. "At the end of the day, this is a cash story," he said.
Hyperliquid has repurchased 26.6 million HYPE from the open market and permanently removed 579,603 HYPE from circulation as of June 7, 2026, per a Dune Analytics dashboard. That burned supply represents approximately $1.56 billion at current prices. The protocol added real-world asset derivatives, including gold and silver, through an October 2025 upgrade. Total open interest across those markets reached $3 billion as of June 3, 2026, according to the platform's official X account
Source: Dune
Hayes acknowledged that Hyperliquid has already changed how financial markets operate. He noted that oil and other major commodities now see active price discovery on the platform over weekends, when traditional exchanges are closed. "Perennial crypto haters had to acknowledge that price action and price discovery for these key variables happen over the weekend on a crypto trading platform," he said.
Hayes Exits 2 Months After $150 HYPE Call
Hayes posted on X on June 7 that he had sold his full HYPE position, alongside his position in another digital asset. He listed rising energy prices, a pipeline of technology IPOs pulling capital from risk assets, and a Trump administration reversal on AI policy as the reasons behind his decision. "Time to take profit," he wrote. The exit came less than two months after he published an essay predicting HYPE would reach $150 by August 2026.
HYPE traded near $59 on June 7, down 14% over the prior seven days, according to CoinMarketCap. The token had notched a fresh all-time high above $75 the previous week. Hayes did not respond to criticism from observers who noted the contrast between his exit price and his published target.
Related Article: Hyperliquid Is on a Tear, but Can the HYPE Price Rally Keep Going?
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