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The Hyperliquid (HYPE) token is under heavy selling pressure as concerns mount over a looming $12 billion unlock event. Trading at $43.37, HYPE has fallen more than 12% in the past 24 hours and is down 20.8% this week, raising alarm across the crypto market.

The scheduled unlock on November 29 will see team tokens representing 23.8% of the total supply released over 24 months, with analysts warning of $500 million in monthly selling pressure.

Research group Maelstrom described the upcoming vesting as a “Sword of Damocles” moment, noting that only 17% of the supply may be absorbed by buybacks.

This overhang has already caused major whales to trim their positions, with one investor withdrawing $122 million worth of HYPE while holding onto $90 million in unrealized profits.

HYPE’s price trends to the downside on the daily chart. Source: HYPEUSD on Tradingview

Arthur Hayes’ Ferrari Sale Sparks Hyperliquid (HYPE) Selloff

Adding fuel to the bearish sentiment, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes recently exited his entire HYPE position, cashing out over 96,000 tokens for approximately $4.8 million. Hayes revealed on social media that the sale was to cover a deposit for his new Ferrari 849 Testarossa, generating nearly $823,000 in profit.

The move stunned the market, especially given Hayes’ bold prediction just weeks earlier at the WebX 2025 conference, where he forecasted a 126x surge in HYPE over three years. His abrupt selloff, paired with mounting unlock concerns, has shaken investor confidence in Hyperliquid’s long-term trajectory.

Tokenomics Reform Proposal: Can It Restore Trust?

In response to growing concerns, DBA Asset Management’s Jon Charbonneau and researcher Hasu have introduced a comprehensive proposal to overhaul HYPE’s tokenomics. The plan recommends:

Burning 45% of HYPE’s supply, including unminted tokens allocated for emissions and assistance funds.
Eliminating Hyperliquid’s fixed 1 billion supply cap, aligning with flexible issuance models seen in Ethereum and Solana.

Supporters argue the proposal could remove distortions in fully diluted valuation (FDV) metrics and create a fairer assessment of Hyperliquid’s fundamentals. However, critics warn that cutting emissions may weaken growth incentives and reduce flexibility in responding to future challenges.

Despite its current price struggles, Hyperliquid remains one of the fastest-growing decentralized derivatives exchanges, recently hitting $3.4 billion in daily trading volumes. Whether the proposed reforms can stabilize HYPE ahead of November’s unlock will be a decisive test for the project’s resilience.

Cover image from ChatGPT, HYPEUSD chart from Tradingview

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Arthur Hayes, the BitMEX co-founder who now runs crypto venture fund Maelstrom, sold his personal stash of Hyperliquid’s HYPE tokens just weeks after predicting the asset could rally 126-fold.

Ferrari jokes and blockchain receipts

Blockchain analytics service Lookonchain reported on Sunday that Hayes unloaded 96,628 HYPE — worth about $5.1 million — booking a profit of roughly $823,000, or 19%, in a month.

Not long after, Hayes confirmed the move with his trademark irreverence, posting on X: “Need to pay my deposit on the new Rari 849 Testarossa.” The comment fueled backlash from traders who accused him of pumping HYPE in August before quickly exiting.

Hayes pushed back on Monday, insisting the sale was tied to concerns laid out by his firm. “This is why we dumped $HYPE today. But don’t worry 126x is still possible 2028 is a long way off,” he wrote.

Maelstrom warns of $11.9B supply unlocks

Earlier today, Maelstrom published a lengthy X post outlining what it called HYPE’s “first true test.”

Starting Nov. 29, 237.8 million HYPE will begin vesting linearly over two years — unlocking nearly $500 million of tokens per month. At current prices of around $50, that represents $11.9 billion of supply entering circulation.

The post estimated Hyperliquid’s buyback program could only absorb about 17% of that flow, leaving a potential $410 million monthly overhang. “Has the market priced in the sheer scale of these unlocks?” Maelstrom asked.

Maelstrom framed the looming supply shock as natural for a fast-growing protocol but warned that large vested allocations may tempt early developers and insiders to sell. The firm also noted that even large decentralized autonomous treasury (DAT) deals, such as Sonnet’s $583 million HYPE raise, won’t offset the scale of the unlocks.

Still betting on a decentralized Binance

The remarks contrasted sharply with Hayes’s Aug. 27 blog post, where he called Hyperliquid a “decentralized Binance” and argued HYPE could climb 126x by 2028. That thesis relied on bold assumptions: a $10 trillion stablecoin market, Hyperliquid capturing a Binance-level trading share, and fee structures holding steady.

Despite selling his tokens, Hayes reiterated that long-term view on Monday, describing the upcoming unlock as a hurdle, not a death blow. In his words, “2028 is a long way off.”

Hyperliquid has surged to become a dominant player in decentralized perpetual futures, and its HYPE token remains central to governance, staking and fee distribution. Whether the market can digest nearly $12 billion in new supply may determine if Hayes’s forecast proves prescient — or overly ambitious.