- Hyperliquid has shot up 90% year-to-date, but Bitwise says investors are still undervaluing the HYPE token.
- He described it as a new super-app that transcends crypto and is targeting the $600 trillion global asset market.
Hyperliquid has been setting the pace among the large-cap cryptos this year, and despite a wider bear market that has slashed $400 billion from the market, it has gained over 90% in the first five months. However, despite this bull run, Bitwise says HYPE is still undervalued and projects it will explode over the next few months.
In a blog post, Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan described Hyperliquid as “what you get when crypto is allowed to grow up.” He believes that Hyperliquid has transcended crypto and is targeting the $600 trillion global asset market.
Hyperliquid is not a crypto app. It's a super app.
It's not targeting the $3 trillion crypto economy. It's targeting the $600 trillion global asset market.
Investors are valuing it as one thing. It's the other. https://t.co/DTdYf7FpGb
— Matt Hougan (@Matt_Hougan) May 19, 2026
Hougan, a renowned voice within crypto, outlined three key reasons for his bullish take on HYPE. The first is that Hyperliquid is a super app that provides trading, custody and other related services, which SEC Chairman Paul Atkins has been calling for.
The super app approach has seen the platform expand beyond crypto; nearly half its volume is now in non-crypto assets such as commodities and tokenized stocks. As we reported, tokenized stocks could explode this year after the SEC allowed crypto platforms to legally offer these tokens.
Hougan stated:
“The blazing growth (it did $170 billion in trading volume in the past month) has come from Hyperliquid’s decision to go after a market that’s much bigger than crypto. It isn’t trying to be the next Binance; it wants to be the largest and most valuable trading venue in the world.”
Bitwise: Hyperliquid is Undervalued
Then there’s HYPE, the protocol’s native token. This year, it has gained over 90%, pushing its market cap to $12.35 billion and pushing it into the top ten highest-valued cryptos. At press time, HYPE trades at $48.6, gaining 21% in the past week alone.
Hougan says HYPE’s appeal is partly down to being a second-generation token, meaning it launched in an era of regulatory clarity after Gary Gensler had exited the SEC. Gen-2 tokens are designed to accrue value from Day 1, with 99% of trading fees going directly to buying back the tokens.
This model “is one of the reasons Hyperliquid is the best-performing large-cap crypto asset in the world over the past year.”
Bitwise says HYPE is still undervalued despite the impressive performance. This stems from two errors, with the first being miscategorization. Currently, investors view it as a crypto futures exchange, but Bitwise says it should be valued as a global super app that covers FX, crypto, commodities, prediction markets, and more.
It states:
“Its addressable universe is not the $3 trillion crypto market, but the $600 trillion market for global assets. Those are two completely different businesses. Today’s prices suggest you’re being offered the second at the cost of the first.”
The second is an anchoring error in which investors have learned that crypto assets do not accrue value. This makes them lump HYPE together with projects like Uniswap’s UNI, but Bitwise believes it should be compared to Robinhood or CME.
