Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
Author: Wenser (@wenser 2010)
At the end of November, after a month of warming up, the decentralized derivatives trading platform Hyperliquid's native token HYPE airdrop finally concluded. At the opening, the HYPE token price was around $3, which surged over 300% to nearly $10 within just a few days, attracting significant market attention, with many exclaiming, 'If only I had known to trade more!'
According to ASXN data, Hyperliquid airdropped a total of 274 million HYPE tokens, with a wallet address count of 94,028; the average airdrop amount per address is 2,915.66 HYPE, with a median of 64.53 HYPE. Based on the historical high price of nearly $10, the individual airdrop returns approach $30,000, making it 'the most generous airdrop of the year.'
Odaily Planet Daily will conduct an exploratory analysis of Hyperliquid's airdrop model, industry perspectives, and updates on the current cycle's token issuance model for readers' reference.
Unconventional Genesis Airdrop: Hyperliquid splashes 310 million HYPE tokens
As early as October 14, Hyperliquid officially announced the establishment of the Hyper Foundation—an organization aimed at supporting the development of the Hyperliquid blockchain and ecosystem and intends to launch HYPE token TGE.
At that time, the official introduction stated, 'Hyperliquid's native token HYPE is crucial for the further development of HyperBFT proof-of-stake consensus, HyperEVM, and the roadmap. As part of the genesis distribution, eligible users can choose to receive HYPE and optional Hypurr NFT.'
As November approached, Hyperliquid officials began intensive preparations for the genesis airdrop:
On November 27, Hyperliquid officially cracked down on witch activity on the eve of the airdrop—officially stating that approximately 100 entities held over 27,000 addresses, attempting to gain disproportionate points through large-scale and systematic behavior. In response to this behavior, the points of these addresses will be multiplied by 2% or 20%, depending on the scale of the witch activity. Affected addresses will be marked as 'witch behavior detected' on the points page. Additionally, Hyperliquid allocated 8 million points for May's activities, 8.4 million points for activities in early October and November, bringing the total points to 57.9 million.
Subsequently, Hyper Foundation issued a notice reminding users who recently started using Hyperliquid L1 and those who missed out earlier that they need to check and accept the terms and conditions of the Genesis Event before 23:59 UTC on November 28.
On November 28, Hyper Foundation officially announced that the genesis event for Hyperliquid's native token HYPE will launch at 15:30 Beijing time on November 29, during which—
The maximum supply of HYPE is 1 billion tokens, distributed as follows:
38.888% for future emissions and community rewards;
31.0% allocated for genesis distribution;
23.8% allocated to current and future core contributors;
6.0% for Super Foundation budget; 0.3% for community grants; 0.012% allocated to HIP-2.
Tokens will be issued over time, with 76.2% allocated to the community. Qualified participants in the genesis event will receive 310 million tokens, which will be fully unlocked. Unallocated tokens will be transferred to future issuances and community rewards. 60 million HYPE will be allocated to the Hyper Foundation budget, 300 HYPE to grants, and 120,000 HYPE to Hyperliquidity (HIP-2). 388,880,000 unminted HYPE will be reserved for future issuances and community rewards. Core contributor tokens will be locked for 1 year after the genesis. Most vesting schedules will be completed between 2027-2028; some will continue after 2028. The genesis distribution strictly excludes core contributors. No allocations are provided for private investors, centralized exchanges, or market makers.
When the news came out, there was no shortage of skepticism in the market, especially the last sentence of the rules made one exclaim, 'Hyperliquid actually has no intention to actively conquer CEX, nor is there any allocation for private placement or market makers?'
But looking back, the 310 million tokens in the genesis airdrop have been claimed by over 274 million, and the 24-hour trading volume on Hyperliquid reached as high as 270 million dollars, achieving the effect of pushing the HYPE token price up with limited chips, demonstrating the brilliance of this decision.
Of course, the average airdrop amount does not represent that all users left 'satisfied'; this HYPE token airdrop remains a 'victory for the big players.'
According to ASXN data statistics, only 18.9% of airdrop wallet addresses received more than 1,000 tokens (with a peak value of about $10,000), among which:
4700 wallets received 1000-4100 HYPE tokens in the airdrop, accounting for 9.1%;
2900 wallets received 4100-16,400 HYPE tokens in the airdrop, accounting for 5.6%;
16,400 - 65,500 HYPE token airdrop wallet count is 1,400, accounting for 2.8%;
65,500 - 262,000 HYPE token airdrop wallet count is 570, accounting for 1.1%;
262,000 - 1,000,000 HYPE token airdrop wallet count is 147, accounting for only 0.3%.
In other words, the HYPE token airdrop still conforms relatively well to the '80/20 rule', meaning that about 20% of addresses received nearly 80% of the total airdrop amount.
Wallet Address Analysis Icon
However, Hyperliquid has managed to strike a balance between the interests of community users and the distribution of token airdrops, and has thus received high praise from the community.
Moreover, industry insiders have also given positive feedback on Hyperliquid and this genesis token airdrop activity, which had already shown signs months earlier.
The 'wealth creation code' that had long been anticipated received praise from industry insiders
In August, Su Zhu had previously stated, 'The theory of fat applications' has become a reality, with Pumpfun and Hyperliquid adopting business models that involve high efficiency and low-risk investments (VC), dominating as single applications on Solana and Arbitrum, controlling most of the value on-chain.
At that time, he predicted that more similar applications would emerge, and a new wave of cryptocurrency adoption was about to arrive.
In October, crypto data analysis platform Kaito AI published an analysis stating, 'The emergence of Hyperliquid is worth studying; over the past three months, its market share in derivatives trading has been 31%.' According to chart information, the second place is dydx with a market share of 16.76%; the third place is GMX with a market share of 11.16%.
Able to capture nearly one-third of the market share in the fiercely competitive derivatives trading sector, Hyperliquid's product dominance and project operation capabilities were already evident at that time.
This information has also received the approval of many users in the community:
Community core contributor Cha Busi stated, 'Hyperliquid proves with facts that the amount of airdrop shares has no relation to the market value of which exchange you go to. When you unite with a community that won't betray you, the community will also give you the greatest trust.'
Community user Junzhu also expressed support for Hyperliquid's emphasis on community: 'Hyperliquid is a very community-driven project. Such projects will definitely reach the peak!'
Furthermore, community user Da Ju Ge expressed, 'The expenses were only around 270 U, but I received a contract trading surplus of 6,000 U+; the points airdrop approached 200,000 U+ (along with HYPE token holdings) and one limited NFT.' This is a prime example of 'winning big.'
Community user Da Ju Ge shares profit screenshots
Moreover, Hyperliquid's excellent performance in the airdrop activity has also attracted the attention and affirmation of Base protocol leader Jesse Pollak.
Previously, he stated, 'Hyperliquid demonstrates that it's a good thing to build a product people love before injecting price complexity. We saw the same thing on Base—starting without a token allowed us to focus on solving real problems, which means we have to work hard for it every day. It should be noted that Hyperliquid is not the only data point in this regard. In fact, the entire history of startups shows this. Undoubtedly, the most important thing is to create a world-class product that people love. That's it.'
Hyperliquid co-founder Jeff Yan also officially explained the project's airdrop activity, stating, 'It is encouraging to see tens of thousands of community members gain life-changing wealth during Hyperliquid's genesis event. Importantly, none of these individuals are insiders; Hyperliquid is a tribute to the original spirit of Bitcoin, where ownership belongs to believers and doers, not rent-seeking insiders.'
In addition, he added, 'Finance is humanity's greatest invention and the only effective way to coordinate human efforts across time and space. However, the traditional financial system contradicts its fundamental goal of empowering individuals, such as: being opaque and centralized; being owned and operated by privileged insiders; not embracing technological innovation to better serve users. Hyperliquid is the evolution of finance; however, Hyperliquid will only be deemed successful when it encompasses all areas of finance.' This move also reveals Hyperliquid's ambition for further transformation and innovation in the financial sector.
In contrast, there is the discussion of the update on Hyperliquid's token airdrop model.
From CEX listings to DEX listings: The trend behind the Meme coin cycle's backdrop
According to Coingecko data, the current price of the HYPE token is stable at around $8.5, with a circulation of approximately 333 million tokens; the market cap is about $2.88 billion; FDV is approximately $8.589 billion; previously, at its price peak, its FDV once approached $10 billion. The main reasons why such a project 'which did not provide any allocation for private investors, centralized exchanges, or market makers' could reach this point are as follows—
1. The times have changed—market conditions provide possibilities for DEX listings
Looking back, the main advantage of listing on CEX is its ample liquidity and large user base, making it the preferred choice for many projects. Countless projects set 'To Exchange' or even 'To Binance' as their core goal at the outset, hoping that listing on CEX would complete the last step of their token launch to obtain the widest possible exit liquidity.
As we move into 2024, the market environment has quietly changed—
First, with the approval of Bitcoin ETF and Ethereum ETF, the number of 'newbie traders' who previously entered the crypto industry through altcoin channels has drastically decreased. For ordinary investors, using ETF funds to invest in BTC and ETH has become a more accessible and convenient investment choice, leading to a reduction in overall industry liquidity scale.
Second, with the meme coin craze that began in March, more and more cryptocurrency players have flooded into the on-chain world, making DEX listings a priority choice for many crypto projects, including meme coin projects, with on-chain liquidity gradually increasing and sufficient to support the development of token projects post-DEX listing.
Third, past 'high FDV, low circulation' VC tokens have encountered a cooling period in this cycle. The influx of listings during a bull market was originally a 'wishful thinking' for such projects, but the liquidity divided after ETFs and on-chain projects makes it difficult for more VC investment projects to continue 'sucking' CEX liquidity. 'To CEX-style entrepreneurship' has gradually become a choice with extremely low ROI.
In summary, Hyperliquid's development and airdrop first took advantage of the favorable factor of 'timing'.
2. The product has changed—Hyperliquid's strong product capability supports
Meanwhile, Hyperliquid's strong product capability also provides strong support for the entry of liquidity and the subsequent rise in token prices.
According to core contributor Cha Busi from the Hyperliquid community, 'In simple terms, users can collateralize their positions when opening contracts on Hyperliquid, and lending platforms can hedge risks through contracts.' Meanwhile, 'HyperEVM can tokenize HLP/Vaults/Perp positions for a broader DeFi field, allowing for collateralization while improving capital utilization.'
In addition, crypto KOL Godo previously provided a detailed introduction to Hyperliquid during the airdrop, emphasizing its advantage of 'providing an experience similar to CEX on DEX' and explained its trading volume data. According to DefiLlama data, Hyperliquid's total trading volume has reached 437.9 billion dollars, which is remarkable for a trading platform that has been online for only about a year.
Hyperliquid has seized market demand and entered the trading market from the on-chain order book, thus occupying a 'geographical advantage'.
DefiLlama Data
3. Community Building—Hyperliquid Says NO to VC
Moreover, in terms of 'people', Hyperliquid has also made significant efforts: this is reflected not only in the fact that the token share distribution did not reserve any private placements, CEX, or MM portions but also in its community-building efforts. Previously, Hyperliquid postponed airdrop registration multiple times, indicating that the project values community users' experiences and has mostly kept up with and explained community user feedback in a timely manner. This can also be seen from co-founder Jeff Yan's past industry viewpoints.
Conclusion: Hyperliquid opens a new development in DeFi 2.0
In May of this year, when Hyperliquid announced that 'Hyperliquid L1 will support native EVM', it was already aiming for the development of DeFi 2.0. Now that the HYPE token's genesis airdrop has concluded, what awaits its further expansion is not only the launch of various spot trading but also the optimization and resolution of issues such as unsustainable liquidity incentives and excessive collateral in DeFi 1.0.
Although it has not been long since its development, in the long term, Hyperliquid is moving towards its vision of being the 'Binance on-chain'.