Jeffrey Huang, a renowned Taiwanese music star and influential digital asset investor known as “Machi Big Brother,” has divested all his Hyperliquid holdings, incurring a multimillion-dollar loss due to increasing concerns regarding the token’s upcoming vesting schedule.
The celebrity, also a notable collector of Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, sold $25.8 million worth of Hyperliquid (HYPE) tokens, resulting in a total loss of $4.45 million after holding them for several weeks, based on blockchain data shared by the anonymous analyst MLM in a Tuesday X post.
The account has also lost over $19 million in unrealized profits in just the past week.
Despite these significant losses, Huang maintains a long position in Ether (ETH) valued at over $117 million and holds a $28.4 million stake in Pump.fun (PUMP), as shown by blockchain data from Hypurrscan.
This decision followed a significant withdrawal of $122 million in HYPE tokens by whales on Monday, indicating profit-taking and raising concerns over the token’s ability to manage new supply pressure.
Related: ‘Diamond hand’ investor turns $1K into $1M as BNB tops $1,000
Analysts caution against $11.9 billion token unlocks
On Monday, the family office fund Maelstrom, co-founded by BitMEX’s Arthur Hayes, issued a warning regarding the forthcoming HYPE token unlocks, which will present a “first true test” on Nov. 29, coinciding with the start of the 24-month vesting schedule.
This vesting schedule will release $11.9 billion worth of HYPE tokens for team members, with current buybacks only covering about 17% of the monthly supply, suggesting a significant potential overhang of approximately $410 million, according to Maelstrom researcher Lukas Ruppert.
This analysis came shortly after Hayes sold all his HYPE tokens, which he reportedly used as a deposit for a new Ferrari, as previously reported by Cointelegraph.
Market share declines as competitors rise
Hyperliquid’s market share in perpetual futures has dropped significantly ahead of the token unlocks. The platform accounted for merely 33% of decentralized exchange (DEX) market share on Tuesday, a sharp decline from 65% in mid-July, according to Dune’s data.
Hyperliquid’s diminishing market share reflects a “broader competitive cycle” indicative of the evolving landscape 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 of DEXs will depend on how protocols tackle “foundational challenges” such as sustainable liquidity provision, collateral diversity, product design, and the performance of the underlying blockchains, with cost efficiency and latency remaining “critical constraints” for mainstream adoption, Song added.
Related: Trump-backed World Liberty votes for token buybacks and burns
In the same two-month timeframe, Aster’s market share increased from 1.3% to 20%, while Lighter’s share rose from 12.8% to 17.1%.
This 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 its Aster (ASTER) token, Cointelegraph reported.
The HYPE token surged to a new all-time high of $59.29 on Thursday, shortly after Zhao announced the ASTER. At the time of writing, the HYPE token was trading at $48.2, a decline of about 9% for the week, according to Cointelegraph data.
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