Hyperliquid airdrop reaches $7.5B

The Hyperliquid (CRYPTO:HYPE) token has made headlines with its recent airdrop, which has reached a staggering total value of $7.5 billion, marking a significant shift in the landscape of cryptocurrency launches.

Since its launch on November 29, 2024, the HYPE token has appreciated over 600%, trading at $22.67 as of January 15, 2025.

This airdrop is noted as the most valuable in crypto history and represents a decentralised distribution model that excludes venture capital firms and early investors.

Vitali Dervoed, co-founder and CEO of Composability Labs, emphasised during an interview at the Emergence Prague 2024 event that the HYPE token launch signifies a transition from centralised exchange listings to community-driven initiatives.

“The token didn’t deploy on any centralised venue but was launched and fairly priced by the crypto community,” Dervoed stated.

In contrast to Hyperliquid's approach, many cryptocurrencies traditionally launch on centralised exchanges with allocations for VC firms and early investors.

Data shows that over 80% of tokens launched on Binance have decreased in value within six months of their listing.

Despite this trend, many memecoins listed on Binance experienced price increases in 2024.

The Hyperliquid airdrop distributed 31% of its total supply of 1 billion HYPE tokens during its genesis event.

The remaining tokens are allocated for future emissions and community rewards, with no allocation for private investors or centralised exchanges.

Hyperliquid operates on a layer-1 blockchain using a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism capable of processing up to 200,000 transactions per second.

The HYPE token serves multiple functions within the ecosystem, including staking for network consensus and as a gas token for Hyperliquid’s Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible layer.

At the time of reporting, the Hyperliquid (HYPE) price was $23.73.