The price of Hyperliquid’s native token, HYPE, has surged 4.2% Monday, pushing its price past $37 amid a broader crypto market rally.
The uptick also comes at a time when the platform continues to expand its presence in the perpetual futures market, now capturing nearly 6% of the global perps trading volume.
This means Hyperliquid is capturing a meaningful sliver of a market that has traditionally been dominated by large centralized exchanges and established derivatives venues. That shift in market dynamics is significant because it signals not just speculative interest but actual trading demand moving toward the protocol.
At the same time, the platform’s order books and trading infrastructure are seeing heightened usage. Active addresses on Hyperliquid recently crossed 250,000 for the first time, underscoring growing adoption among traders. This kind of engagement is important because it often reflects real usage rather than simple price speculation.
What’s Driving HYPE’s Rise?
A key catalyst behind the recent uptick in HYPE’s price has been anticipation around the HIP‑4 upgrade.
This protocol upgrade is set to introduce prediction markets directly into Hyperliquid’s core trading environment, giving users new ways to trade outcome‑based contracts. These prediction instruments will be fully collateralized and will operate natively on Hyperliquid’s blockchain, meaning the same deep liquidity and fast execution that traders expect for perpetual futures will also support these new markets.
The potential addition of prediction markets represents a meaningful expansion of utility for the platform. Rather than HYPE being tied solely to trading volume or governance, traders could have multiple reasons to enter and remain active on Hyperliquid, whether they’re speculating on event outcomes or hedging positions across different instrument types.
Beyond the HIP‑4 upgrade, the fundamentals supporting Hyperliquid remain robust. The protocol continues to generate significant fee revenue, driven by high perpetuals activity, and distributes a portion of that revenue back to HYPE holders. In the first quarter of 2026, Hyperliquid has distributed over $186m in USDC to HYPE holders.
Records show that open interest on the platform has risen to around $5.47 billion, showing that professional traders and institutional participants are engaged in large positions on-chain.
In particular, Real World Assets (RWA) trading on Hyperliquid has seen a significant uptick with its open interest hitting new ATHs week after week. As of April 6, Hyperliquid reported that the RWA open interest had reached $2.3 billion.
These metrics give depth to the narrative that HYPE’s price performance is built on real usage and not just fleeting sentiment.
Hyperliquid Price Forecast
The combination of strong on-chain fundamentals, growing market share in the perps market, and the upcoming product upgrade suggests that HYPE is well-positioned for further price appreciation, though short-term volatility remains a possibility.
Traders should keep a close eye on $35.21, which has acted as a critical support, going by the previous price movements. Holding above this mark is important for maintaining bullish sentiment, as it signals continued demand and investor confidence.
If HYPE stays above $35.21, the next target lies near the $40.39 resistance level. A breakout above $40.39 could open the door to $42.15, potentially setting the stage for another leg higher as the HIP‑4 upgrade approaches.
On the flip side, a failure to maintain support at $35.21 could lead to a retest of $30.30, whinch if breached, could result in a retest of January lows.
Moving ahead, traders should pay attention to the timing of the HIP‑4 launch, as official confirmation on the actual launch date could act as a catalyst, reinforcing the current positive momentum.
