Nobody Panic, But HYPE Just Mooned 48% While BTC and ETH Got Absolutely Rekt

Hyperliquid's HYPE token just pulled off what every degen dreams of—delivering 48% gains to close Q1 2026 while Bitcoin hemorrhaged 25% and Ethereum decided to take a 32% nosedive off the crypto cliff. The altcoin left the two largest cryptos eating its dust, outperforming BTC by over 70% during the West Asia crisis. When your token does better than your favorite blue-chip during an actual geopolitical meltdown, that's not luck—that's a flex.

Hyperliquid Strategies CEO David Schamis apparently hasn't gotten the memo that momentum is supposed to end eventually. According to him, "Hyperliquid has finally been getting some more press recently, but no one is really talking about this massive outperformance vs the two biggest cryptos. It's really amazing and will continue." Sure, David, and next quarter you'll tell us it's just getting started. We're taking notes.

Schamis was patting himself on the back over JPMorgan and Bloomberg's recent coverage of oil and gold traders discovering Hyperliquid for weekend trading during the West Asia crisis. Apparently, when things get spicy in West Asia, traditional commodity traders decide crypto degens have been onto something with 24/7 markets. Who knew? The crisis pushed non-crypto asset trading—aka HIP-3—on the platform to levels that made the compliance department nervous.

Looking ahead to Q2, HIP-3 growth shows no signs of cooling off, which could give the altcoin more bullish momentum if the broader market sentiment decides to stop being a total coward and recover.

In late March, HIP-3's daily Open Interest crossed $2 billion for the first time. That number would make even TradFi types do a double-take. Non-crypto traders are also sticking around like they found free WiFi at a coffee shop, with a record 60% retention rate. Those repeat customers have helped the non-crypto trading segment hit record highs that would make a traditional exchange executive weep into his Bloomberg terminal.

HIP-3 daily volumes now average 38%-48% of total Hyperliquid activity. Translation for those who don't speak volume: HIP-3 adoption has become a key trading activity and a serious revenue driver—not just some side experiment the devs thought up after too much botany. This is the main character energy this protocol has been looking for.

Since most of Hyperliquid's revenue flows into aggressive HYPE buyback, HIP-3 growth has been net positive for the token's value. Because when your trading fees fund token repurchases