Arthur Hayes: HYPE may surge to $150 in August and has become the second-largest holding in Maelstrom

March 10 News: Crypto investor Arthur Hayes stated in his latest market report that Hyperliquid’s ecosystem token HYPE is expected to rise to $150 by August 2026, offering about five times the current price potential. He revealed that his family office, Maelstrom, has listed HYPE as one of its largest holdings outside of Bitcoin, which quickly drew market attention.

Hayes pointed out that key factors driving HYPE’s long-term growth include Hyperliquid’s ongoing large-scale token buyback program, the rapid expansion of permissionless trading markets, and the gradual end of incentives for some competing projects. After the announcement, HYPE’s price surged over 9% in a short period, and market trading sentiment significantly improved.

Recent tensions in the Middle East have also indirectly boosted trading volume on the platform. Over the weekend, many traders participated in on-chain tokenized oil perpetual contracts, causing the trading volume of related contracts to surpass $160 million within 24 hours. Hyunsu Jung, CEO of Hyperion DeFi, said that the on-chain derivatives market is entering a new stage of development, with decentralized trading products outside traditional finance rapidly attracting capital.

Although Hayes is known for bold predictions, his market views have sometimes been quickly adjusted. He previously estimated that Hyperliquid’s annualized fee revenue could increase a hundredfold by 2028. However, shortly afterward, an internal Maelstrom research report expressed concerns about HYPE’s short-term performance and sold about $5 million worth of HYPE holdings.

Influenced by market sentiment, HYPE’s price once fell from around $45 to near $20 but then gradually recovered, currently trading at about $34. Hayes believes that even in a bearish market, crypto derivatives trading platforms can still maintain revenue growth, as price volatility often drives trading volume higher.

Notably, Hyperliquid allocates approximately 97% of its platform revenue to buy back HYPE tokens, a distribution model relatively rare in the crypto industry. Hayes pointed out that if permissionless markets continue to expand and more attractive on-chain trading products are launched, achieving a 30-day annualized revenue of $1.4 billion is not difficult, which is also a key premise for HYPE to reach its $150 target.

Market analysts believe that if trading volume continues to grow and the buyback mechanism remains stable, HYPE’s future trend could become an important indicator for observing the decentralized derivatives sector.