Cryptocurrency Hyperliquid Faces Potential Plunge as Massive Token Release Looms
$HYPE, the native cryptocurrency of the decentralized exchange (DEX), Hyperliquid, is up over 2% on Saturday to trade at $36.3. This surge can be associated with increasing trading activity on Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 platform as traditional stock and commodity markets are closed for the weekend. Amid the success of HIP-3 commodity markets, analysts predict that the platform’s buyback-and-burn mechanism remains a primary counter-force for the upcoming token unlock on April 6th. Is Hyperliquid price poised for a bullish rebound?
Hyperliquid Faces $356M Token Unlock as April 6 Cliff Approaches
The Hyperliquid ecosystem is preparing a major liquidity event on April 6, 2026, when the protocol will have the next monthly “cliff” in its vesting schedule. Based on the on-chain data and tokenomic trackers such as Tokenomist, up to 9.92 million $HYPE tokens can be eligible to be released under the core contributor vesting contracts, which is estimated at about $356.6 million in value at the current price level.
This translates to about 2.66% of the existing circulating supply and is one of the highest unlock potentials of the asset in a single day in this week.
Although the headline number of approximately 10 million tokens has been a jitter in the market, past trends indicate that the real sell pressure could be much less. The Hyperliquid Foundation has reported that the next claim in this cycle will be around 330,000 $HYPE ($12.1M).
In previous months, the core team has historically claimed only a small fraction (ranging from 1.4% to 17%) of their available tokens, choosing to keep the remainder locked or in protocol treasuries to maintain market stability.
Traders are closely watching how the market absorbs this supply, especially given Hyperliquid’s current dominance in the decentralized perpetual exchange (Perp DEX) space. The buyback-and-burn mechanism of the platform continues to be a major counter-force with the volumes recently reaching an all-time high of $5.4 billion as a result of the success of the HIP-3 commodity markets.
This mechanism involving protocol fees to take $HYPE off the market has played a successful role in dampening the effects of the past unlocks, to the extent that some analysts are now considering the April 6th occurrence as an absence of event, instead of a bearish event.
Hyperliquid Price Faces 7% Drop Before Major Breakdown or Reversal
Over the past two weeks, the Hyperliquid price witnessed a sharp correction from $43.76 to current trading price of $36.5, registering a loss of 16.53%. This pullback aligns with broader market correction amid the escalating geopolitical tension and volatile oil price.
However, a deeper analysis of the technical chart shows this pullback is part of occasional correction amid the formation of a rising channel pattern. Since mid-June 2026, the $HYPE price has witnessed a steady rise within two ascending trendlines on the daily chart.
If the pattern holds true, the Hyperliquid price could drop another 7% and retest the bottom trendline at the $34 mark. The potential retest is a pivot moment for $HYPE to determine the next price trajectory.
If the sellers force a breakdown below the bottom trendline, the Hyperliquid price could plunge to the next significant support of $28 with accelerated selling pressure.
$HYPE/USDT -1d Chart
On the contrary, if buyers showcased sustainability of the channel support, the coin price could attempt it’s next rebound.