Taiwanese music celebrity and high-profile digital asset investor Jeffrey Huang, also known as “Machi Big Brother,” sold all his Hyperliquid holdings at a multimillion-dollar loss amid mounting concerns over the token’s upcoming vesting schedule.
The celebrity and popular Bored Ape Yacht Club collector sold $25.8 million worth of Hyperliquid (HYPE) tokens, realizing a total loss of $4.45 million after weeks of holding, according to blockchain data shared by pseudonymous analyst MLM in a Tuesday X post.
The account has also forfeited more than $19 million in unrealized profit over the past week.
Despite the mounting losses, he maintained an Ether (ETH) long position worth over $117 million and a $28.4 million Pump.fun (PUMP) position, blockchain data from Hypurrscan showed.
The sale followed a whale withdrawal of $122 million in HYPE tokens on Monday, signaling profit-taking and raising alarms over the token’s ability to absorb incoming supply pressure.
Related: ‘Diamond hand’ investor turns $1K into $1M as BNB tops $1,000
Analysts warn of $11.9 billion token unlocks
On Monday, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes’ family office fund, Maelstrom, issued a warning about the approaching HYPE token unlocks, which will see the token face its “first true test” on Nov. 29, when the 24-month vesting schedule kicks off.
The vesting schedule will distribute $11.9 billion worth of HYPE tokens to team members, of which current buybacks would absorb only about 17% of that monthly supply, leaving $410 million in potential overhang, Maelstrom researcher Lukas Ruppert said.
The research was published shortly after Hayes sold all his HYPE tokens, which he apparently used to pay the deposit for a new Ferrari, Cointelegraph reported earlier on Monday.
Market share falls as rivals rise
Hyperliquid’s perpetual futures market share has fallen sharply ahead of the unlocks. The platform accounted for just 33% of decentralized exchange (DEX) market share on Tuesday, down from 65% in mid-July, according to data from Dune.
Hyperliquid’s falling market share is part of a “broader competitive cycle” signaling the growing 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 DEX landscape will largely depend on how protocols address “foundational challenges” such as sustainable liquidity provisions and diverse collateral types, product design and the performance of the underlying blockchains, as cost efficiency and latency remain “critical constraints” for mainstream adoption, added Song.
Related: Trump-backed World Liberty votes for token buybacks and burns
During the same two months, Aster’s market share rose from 1.3% to 20%, while Lighter’s rose from 12.8% to 17.1%.
On Thursday, Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao-linked decentralized perpetuals exchange Aster briefly crossed $2 billion in total value locked, following the project’s Aster (ASTER) token launch, Cointelegraph reported.
The HYPE token rose to a new all-time high of $59.29 on Thursday, hours after Zhao posted the ASTER. The HYPE token traded at $48.20 at the time of writing, down about 9% on the weekly chart, Cointelegraph data shows.
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