Whale Places Massive Bet on $HYPE After Losses in $ENA, Eyeing a Comeback

In a surprising yet confident declaration, a whale has thrown 8 million USDC into the Hyperliquid platform over the past 17 hours—a stake that signals a potent belief in the future of $HYPE, the platform’s native token.

This sizable investment appears to come on the back of some substantial losses that this whale had suffered. At one point, the whale was one of the largest stakers of $ENA. Rumor has it, then, that this surprise move might be a comeback play for this whale as the price of $HYPE has surged 8% today.

Wagering on $HYPE was a bet placed with $HYPE’s very own strategic market move in mind. Hyperliquid, however, has changed from what many might recall—it isn’t the same old Substrate-based DeFi that existed on Polkadot. Either way, betting on $HYPE is better than betting on $ENA, which a whale already lost $13 million on between April and June when it saw a significant move downward of 43.5%.

Whale’s History with $ENA and the $13M Loss

In the world of $HYPE, this whale had previously made waves with their involvement in the $ENA token. From April to June 2024, the whale was a top staker of $ENA, a token that had drawn serious heat at the time. Unfortunately, this investment turned out to be a real stinker, resulting in a $13.01 million loss. That investment represents a 43.5% decline in the value of the whale’s holdings, and the magnitude of that loss is a nice little sobering reminder that you shouldn’t go heavy into illiquid investments with a lot of altcoin hype behind them.

Instead of retreating after such a big loss, this whale has taken the significant step of moving back into the market with $HYPE. The decision to deposit a gigantic 8 million $USDC into Hyperliquid seems to be part of a plan to make a return and capitalize on the recent steady price uptick with the $HYPE token.

Hyperliquid and the Growing Demand for $HYPE

Recently, a decentralized exchange (DEX) called Hyperliquid has started to gain traction. It has been seeing some very decent revenue and liquidity. The platform has performed quite well, ranking just behind Uniswap and Sushiswap as the “top three chains for daily revenue generation.” Hyperliquid and its assistance fund, which holds around 15 million $HYPE tokens (about 5% of the circulating supply), have not been interacting much with aspects of the Ethereum blockchain. Despite that, the last section of this paper will analyze a model under which Hyperliquid could engage in an interaction with the blockchain to the benefit of the platform, its token holders, and its users.

Should this buying pressure persist, it could significantly ramp up demand for $HYPE. Given the current buying pattern, analysts project that the annualized buying pressure on $HYPE could reach as high as $730 million, which would be roughly 10% of the circulating supply at current prices. This is a lot of buying, and it is happening for a reason. It is making $HYPE considerably more valuable, which is the main reason to consider it an investment.

Moreover, the steady improvement in Hyperliquid’s metrics suggests that the platform’s daily average revenue could soon be crossing the $3 million mark. That revenue increase is almost a guaranteed source of fuel for the $HYPE demand, and therefore for its price, as the uptick in demand (and thus the uptick in the price) seems mostly to be a function of the level of real revenue the protocol is churning out. Indeed, some analysts expect $HYPE to be crossing the $100 mark within the next 12 months, provided the current trends hold up.

Will the Whale’s Bet on $HYPE Turn Things Around?

After their significant loss with $ENA, the whale’s recent bet on $HYPE could potentially turn things around. Today, the token’s price is up by 8%, which makes it clear that there is increasing investor enthusiasm for $HYPE. What stands out most to me about the whale’s current actions, though, is that they just deposited 24 million of their 60 million Hype tokens into Hyperliquid. Among other things, that signals they are taking on a fair bit of fresh risk.

Concurrently, the ongoing expansion of Hyperliquid’s statistics serves only to bolster the case for $HYPE. With the number of its daily users steadily growing and the revenue it generates rising sharply, the platform’s native token appears to be in prime position to appreciate in price. Though the cryptocurrency market is fraught with volatility, the current bullish scenario for Hyperliquid makes the potential for $HYPE to achieve notable gains in the not-too-distant future seem pretty probable.

Conclusion: A Risky, Yet Promising Investment

As the investor places its chips on $HYPE, many stock watchers will be watching closely to see if this bet will pay off. The investor’s previous experience with $ENA was marked by a major loss; however, the current necessity for $HYPE and the platform’s strong financial performance have led many to believe that this new investment could pay off far better than their last bet. This entity has purchased over $150 million of $HYPE since November and has seemingly placed no cap on how much more they could buy. A future with a $HYPE price beyond $100 is a likely one in the eyes of many.

At present, the whale’s bet of 8 million $USDC on $HYPE signals a vote of confidence in the future of the token and the platform behind it. Whether this gamble turns out to be a smart move or another costly mistake remains to be seen, but it certainly adds to the growing excitement around Hyperliquid and its native token, $HYPE. Only time will tell if the whale can make a triumphant return to the crypto market with this latest wager.

Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.

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