Finally, it has arrived! On November 29, the decentralized derivatives exchange Hyperliquid announced the launch of its native token HYPE and began the Genesis airdrop event. After the token went live, HYPE's price soared from an opening price of $2 on November 29 to a high of $9.8 on December 1, almost quintupling in just three days.
Compared to other major airdrop projects this year, HYPE's market performance is truly eye-catching. In this airdrop, Hyperliquid distributed a total of 310 million HYPE tokens, and even at the opening price of $2, the scale of the airdrop reached $620 million, making it a major player among airdrops this year.
However, it is strange that despite such a large airdrop, there seemed to be no Chinese KOLs discussing it on social media in the early stages of the airdrop. Afterward, there weren't many Chinese bloggers posting about their airdrop profits, as if those KOLs focused on airdrops missed out on this real opportunity.
The airdrop was sent to 94,000 addresses, with a total airdrop value approaching $10 million
According to data from ASXN Data, Hyperliquid actually airdropped approximately 274 million tokens this time (some users did not sign the Genesis Event terms, so they could not claim). A total of about 94,000 addresses received the airdrop, with each address averaging 2,915 HYPE. Based on the price of $9.8 on December 1, this equates to an average profit of $28,500 per address. It can be said that this airdrop by Hyperliquid is undoubtedly one of the largest airdrop projects of the year.
Although each address averaged 2,915 tokens, in reality, this number reflects the typical "80/20 rule." Most of the airdrop volume is concentrated in the hands of a few large holders, which raises the average, while the actual median for the airdrop is only 64.53 tokens. Proportionally, about 38.7% of users received between 10 and 100 tokens, while 17.9% received fewer than 10 tokens. Thus, over half of the users received fewer than 100 tokens, and accounts that received less than 1,000 tokens accounted for as much as 83.9%. From this perspective, most people did not receive a "high amount" airdrop like 2,915 tokens. However, even with a few hundred dollars in earnings, at current market prices, one could almost buy an iPhone.
On a single address, the largest airdrop address actually received 970,000 tokens, which, at $9.8, has an airdrop value close to $9.56 million! This may become the highest airdrop value for a single address among airdrop projects in 2024 (for example, the largest airdrop value for a single address on Starknet is $360,000, and for Jupiter, it is $130,000).
10,000 new users brought in 2 days after the airdrop
Even though the promotion of the airdrop was not that widespread, the results were very significant: in the two days following the airdrop, Hyperliquid brought in more than 10,000 new users. According to historical data, before the airdrop was released, Hyperliquid's daily new user count was generally below 500, most of the time around 150. But during the two days of November 29 and 30, the total number of new users reached 10,993, even surpassing the total number of new users in the past month. Especially on November 30, the total number of trades exceeded 3.44 million, more than ten times that before the airdrop.
Despite a recent surge in user activity, it seems that there has not been a significant increase in trading volume. The trading volume from November 29 to 30 was around $1.8 to $1.9 billion, with no significant increase observed. However, compared to other projects where user numbers plummet after an airdrop, Hyperliquid's performance is relatively unique.
In fact, the growth trend of Hyperliquid has long been showing. According to data from Defillama, Hyperliquid Perp ranks second among all derivative protocols, second only to Jupiter Perpetual. Interestingly, on November 17, Hyperliquid briefly surpassed Jupiter to rank first. Earlier, in July of this year, Hyperliquid was ranked behind GMX and DYDX, but surprisingly rose to fourth place. As an emerging player in the decentralized derivatives exchange space, Hyperliquid's rise has actually been initiated.
Hyperliquid ecosystem tokens collectively surged
As of December 1, HYPE's market capitalization briefly exceeded $3.3 billion, ranking around 44th, similar to OKB. In comparison, ARB's market capitalization is around $4 billion, and if HYPE continues to rise, it may even surpass ARB.
For those who received the airdrop, the strong rise of HYPE is undoubtedly the best incentive. On social media, many KOLs praised Hyperliquid as a model of integrity compared to those who received large sums of funding but designed complex rules that forced users into a gamble-like situation. Some users pointed out that HYPE is still a "single-player coin" and can only be traded on Hyperliquid.
With the popularity of HYPE, Hyperliquid has also become a new "gold mine." Not only HYPE, but other tokens on Hyperliquid also rapidly appreciated during this wave of enthusiasm. From November 29 to December 1, native trading tokens on Hyperliquid, such as PURR, JEFF, HFUN, etc., all saw significant increases. Especially JEFF (a MEME coin inspired by Hyperliquid's founder Jeff), which surged nearly 10 times in just three days. Other tokens like OMNIX also experienced several times of growth.
However, whether this strong upward trend can be maintained is still an unknown.
So far, Hyperliquid's on-chain deposits and withdrawals still need to be bridged through Arbitrum. Over 60% of the USDC tokens on the Arbitrum chain are held by Hyperliquid addresses, which appears to be a mutually beneficial relationship. Hyperliquid brings a large number of active addresses and capital flow to Arbitrum, while Arbitrum provides Hyperliquid with stable and low-cost infrastructure, especially during the phase when the mainnet has not yet launched.
It is worth noting that Hyperliquid has not accepted any form of investment to date. According to an announcement by the Hyperliquid Foundation during the Genesis event, there is "no allocation for private investors, centralized exchanges, or market makers" in the token distribution. Previously, PANews also conducted an in-depth analysis of Hyperliquid's concept and development direction.
According to official information, Hyperliquid's EVM has been deployed on the testnet, but integration with other L1 states is still ongoing and may not be able to transfer assets through cross-chain bridges like other L1s in the short term. As an L1, Hyperliquid's ecosystem is relatively singular; all current infrastructure, such as browsers and DEXs, operates on a self-owned model. This strategy has its advantages—focusing all technological innovation and development on improving the performance of decentralized derivatives exchanges, aiming to create a decentralized "Binance." However, it also has its drawbacks, as it may be difficult to expand the brand's influence through ecosystem expansion.
Additionally, from Hyperliquid's official social media operations, there have been almost no other content updates besides announcements. This low-key, focused style is quite unique in the crypto industry, especially in a field filled with hype and gimmicks.
However, Hyperliquid's recent hot performance once again proves a point: in the face of market growth, no amount of marketing tricks seems trivial.