Arthur Hayes dumps HYPE shy of $150 target, token slides…

Hyperliquid's HYPE token slid from record highs near $75 to around $67 after BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes abruptly sold his entire position — just days after reiterating a $150 price target and publishing a detailed March roadmap for how HYPE could reach that level. Hayes cited rising oil prices linked to the Iran conflict, a wave of upcoming AI IPOs, and his expectation that broader financial markets could peak between now and September.

Why it matters

The exit landed badly in crypto circles precisely because Hayes had been one of Hyperliquid's loudest institutional-grade advocates. Arthur Cheong of DeFiance Capital called it "the epitome of a guy that over-trades his position." Trader TraderSZ, with 683,000 followers, highlighted the contradiction between Hayes' recent bullish calls and the sudden sale. The episode renews a persistent debate about whether high-profile crypto figures' public price targets carry any actionable weight — or whether they function more as momentum fuel that evaporates on exit.

Market impact

HYPE remains up 166% year-to-date and still clears roughly $40 billion in weekly perpetual futures volume, making it one of the most operationally credible DeFi venues in the market. But Markus Thielen of 10xResearch flagged the rally as overextended: at recent highs, HYPE traded at roughly 25x projected fee revenue — near its richest valuation in a year — while protocol revenue sits below its peak and a significant token unlock is scheduled for June. The structural bull case remains intact, but the near-term risk-reward has clearly shifted.