Taiwanese music icon and prominent digital asset investor Jeffrey Huang, known as “Machi Big Brother,” has liquidated his entire Hyperliquid holdings, incurring a multimillion-dollar loss amid rising concerns about the token’s impending vesting schedule.
The celebrity and noted Bored Ape Yacht Club collector divested $25.8 million worth of Hyperliquid (HYPE) tokens, resulting in a total loss of $4.45 million after weeks of ownership, according to blockchain data from pseudonymous analyst MLM shared in a Tuesday X post.
The account has also missed out on over $19 million in unrealized profit in the last week.
Despite the significant losses, he holds a long position in Ether (ETH) valued at over $117 million, along with a $28.4 million position in Pump.fun (PUMP), blockchain data from Hypurrscan indicates.
The sale came after a significant whale withdrawal of $122 million in HYPE tokens on Monday, indicating profit-taking and raising concerns about the token’s capacity to handle incoming supply pressure.
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Analysts issue warnings regarding $11.9 billion token unlocks
On Monday, Arthur Hayes’ family office, Maelstrom, which he co-founded, alerted investors about impending HYPE token unlocks, marking the token’s “first true test” on Nov. 29, when the 24-month vesting schedule begins.
The vesting schedule will release $11.9 billion worth of HYPE tokens to team members, with current buybacks expected to absorb only about 17% of that monthly supply, indicating a potential $410 million overhang, as noted by Maelstrom researcher Lukas Ruppert.
The research emerged shortly after Hayes divested all his HYPE tokens, allegedly using the proceeds for a new Ferrari, as reported by Cointelegraph earlier on Monday.
Market share declines as competitors rise
Hyperliquid’s share in the perpetual futures market has noticeably decreased ahead of the unlocks. The platform represented just 33% of the decentralized exchange (DEX) market share on Tuesday, a drop from 65% in mid-July, according to data from Dune.
The decline in Hyperliquid’s market share is indicative of a “broader competitive cycle” reflecting the evolving nature of DEXs, as noted by Sarah Song, head of business development at BNB Chain:
“As the sector evolves, new models could emerge that meaningfully reshape user behavior and platform positioning.”
The future landscape of DEXs will largely depend on how protocols tackle foundational issues such as sustainable liquidity, diverse collateral types, product design, and the performance of underlying blockchains, given that cost efficiency and latency remain “critical constraints” for widespread adoption, added Song.
Related: Trump-backed World Liberty votes for token buybacks and burns
During the past two months, Aster’s market share increased from 1.3% to 20%, while Lighter’s rose from 12.8% to 17.1%.
On Thursday, the decentralized perpetuals exchange Aster, linked to Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao, briefly surpassed $2 billion in total value locked, following the launch of the Aster (ASTER) token, according to Cointelegraph.
The HYPE token reached a new all-time high of $59.29 on Thursday, hours after Zhao mentioned the ASTER. At the time of writing, the HYPE token was trading at $48.2, down approximately 9% on the weekly chart, as per Cointelegraph data.
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