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Why HYPE Is Up While Every Other Crypto, Including Bitcoin, Is Down

As crypto markets dropped, Hyperliquid pulled in macro traders, deepened liquidity, and outperformed everything else.

Author

Juan Aranovich
January 29, 2026 • Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

In today’s market selloff, bitcoin dropped roughly 6%.

Hyperliquid’s native token slipped about 4.8%.

Zooming out, HYPE is still up roughly 50% since Monday.

That alone would not be remarkable in crypto. What makes it notable is the context. The broader market has moved sharply lower. There was no risk-on impulse, no alt complex catching a bid. If anything, the tape has turned decisively defensive.

This move was not riding a market rally. It was specific to Hyperliquid.

Source: TradingView

When a single token materially outperforms in a flat tape, the market is telling you something. Either it is wrong and chasing noise, or it is repricing something structural that most people have not fully internalized yet.

In this article, we’ll explain:

  • why HYPE, the token for Hyperliquid’s decentralized perpetual futures exchange, moved so much this week, 

  • the fundamentals behind it, and 

  • where the tradeoffs start to appear from here.

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