Taiwanese music star and prominent digital asset investor Jeffrey Huang, popularly known as “Machi Big Brother,” divested all his Hyperliquid holdings at a significant loss exceeding millions amidst rising worries regarding the token’s imminent vesting schedule.
The celebrity and avid Bored Ape Yacht Club collector offloaded $25.8 million worth of Hyperliquid (HYPE) tokens, incurring a total loss of $4.45 million after several weeks of retention, as per blockchain data released by the pseudonymous analyst MLM in a Tuesday X post.
The account also forfeited over $19 million in unrealized profits in the last week.
Despite the accumulating losses, he retained a long position in Ether (ETH) exceeding $117 million and a $28.4 million position in Pump.fun (PUMP), as indicated by blockchain data from Hypurrscan.
The divestment came after a whale withdrawal of $122 million in HYPE tokens on Monday, indicative of profit-taking and triggering concerns regarding the token’s capacity to handle additional supply pressure.
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Analysts highlight $11.9 billion token unlocks
On Monday, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes’ family office fund, Maelstrom, cautioned about the impending HYPE token unlocks, which present the token with its “first true test” on Nov. 29, coinciding with the commencement of the 24-month vesting schedule.
The vesting schedule will allocate $11.9 billion worth of HYPE tokens to team members, with current buybacks expected to soak up only about 17% of that monthly supply, leaving a potential overhang of $410 million, noted Maelstrom researcher Lukas Ruppert.
The analysis was released shortly after Hayes liquidated all his HYPE tokens, which were reportedly used to fund a new Ferrari, as Cointelegraph reported earlier on Monday.
Market share declines as competitors emerge
Hyperliquid’s share of the perpetual futures market has plummeted ahead of the unlocks. The platform represented merely 33% of decentralized exchange (DEX) market share on Tuesday, a significant drop from 65% in mid-July, as per Dune data.
The decline in Hyperliquid’s market share is indicative of a “broader competitive cycle” that reflects the ongoing evolution of DEXs, according to 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 primarily rely on how protocols tackle “foundational challenges” such as sustainable liquidity provisions and diversified collateral types, product design, and the efficiency of underlying blockchains, as cost effectiveness and speed remain “critical constraints” for widespread adoption, Song added.
Related: Trump-backed World Liberty votes for token buybacks and burns
In the same timeframe, Aster’s market share surged from 1.3% to 20%, while Lighter’s increased 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 project’s Aster (ASTER) token, Cointelegraph reported.
The HYPE token ascended 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 priced at $48.20, reflecting a weekly decline of about 9%, according to Cointelegraph data.
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