Hype Breaks Above $97, Sets Sights on Three-Digit Prices

Hype (HYPE) has entered price discovery after breaking above $97 and setting expectations for three-digit prices. The token rose due to spot demand and directional trades on derivative markets.

As of September 2026, HYPE traded with daily records in trading volumes, reaching $1.15B during the latest record spike. This represents a significant increase from its previous circulation of 222M tokens out of a total of 995M.

The recent crypto market recovery has boosted investor appetite for risk, leading to a surge in HYPE open interest to a new all-time high at $2.96B. Hyperliquid's L1 open interest also reached an all-time peak at over $9B based on DeFi Llama data, while the platform itself reported total open interest of over $18B.

HYPE is now in the top 12 of coins and tokens by open interest, on track to break out among legacy coins. The recent price rally caused around $2.15M in short liquidations for the past 24 hours, indicating that traders are not attempting to short HYPE or bet on a quick breakdown of the rally.

The token's growth is driven by demand for fees and staking, which controls inflation. Additionally, individual whales are boosting demand for HYPE spot markets, with one whale spending $400M on the token in the past month.