Will Hyperliquid Ever Be Worth More Than Solana?
Hyperliquid is building fast, launching lending markets and attracting Wall Street pathways, but a mountain of locked tokens and Solana's sprawling ecosystem stand between HYPE and the throne.
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Right now, Hyperliquid (CRYPTO:HYPE) is worth about $21 billion, far less than Solana‘s (CRYPTO:SOL) market value of roughly $69 billion. To reach a point where Hyperliquid is worth more than Solana, HYPE would need to more than triple in value from its current price of around $94.
HYPE hit an all-time high on September 19, 2026, while Solana was trading at $117 as of September 25 and has declined 5.8% this year. This raises an interesting question: Can Hyperliquid ever surpass Solana in market value, given that Solana is a comprehensive platform suitable for various applications?
Hyperliquid Has to More Than Triple to Match Solana’s Market Value
When comparing market value, it’s important to note that it reflects only coins currently in circulation. In contrast, fully diluted value considers every token that will ever exist. Currently, HYPE has around a quarter of its total supply of approximately 952 million tokens on the market. This means its fully diluted value is about $89 billion at a $94 price, surpassing Solana’s market value.
However, this comparison is somewhat misleading. It pits HYPE’s potential future supply against Solana’s existing supply. Most Solana SOL tokens are actively traded, so its fully diluted value closely aligns with its market value. As a result, Solana maintains a market capitalization approximately 3.3 times larger than Hyperliquid’s.
HYPE’s price may face pressure as more of its locked tokens become available for trading. Over time, unlocks introduce three new tokens for every one currently available.
If holders sell these unlocked tokens, it could hinder HYPE’s market value growth unless new buyers are ready to absorb all the additional tokens at the same price. Although Hyperliquid’s fee-burning mechanism has removed 4.9% of its supply, this only partially offsets the influx of new tokens.
Hyperliquid Leads Onchain Futures Trading as the Exchange That Invented Them Closes
Hyperliquid currently leads onchain perpetual futures trading, financial contracts that don’t expire and let traders speculate on price movements. BitMEX, the exchange that introduced perpetual swaps in 2014, closed on September 23, creating a unique opportunity.
However, BitMEX’s daily trading volume had dwindled to about $400,000 before its closure, making up less than 0.1% of the market. Many of BitMEX’s users had already moved to platforms like Hyperliquid, so the shutdown may not greatly affect Hyperliquid’s trading volume.
On September 18, Hyperliquid launched a lending market that successfully lent out $269 million on its first day. Furthermore, Payward—the parent company of the U.S. crypto exchange Kraken—announced plans on September 16 to provide a U.S. pathway to Hyperliquid futures via Bitnomial, an exchange regulated by the CFTC.
Solana Draws Payments and AI Agents That a Trading Venue Cannot
Solana’s ecosystem extends far beyond just trading. In the four weeks leading up to September 22, it processed 76% of x402 payments, totaling around 23.2 million transactions and significantly outpacing other networks. The x402 system lets AI agents pay for data and services in USDC without human approval.
Solana also supports stablecoin payments, meme coin trading, and more tokenized stocks than any other blockchain. While Hyperliquid focuses on attracting traders, Solana’s broad appeal draws in traders, payment companies, stock issuers, and software agents all at once.
Will Hyperliquid Ever Be Worth More Than Solana?
It’s possible, but not soon. HYPE’s total supply currently carries a higher theoretical value than Solana’s market worth. However, for Hyperliquid to eclipse Solana, its price must more than triple while market unlocks continue to increase supply, and token burns have removed only a small percentage.
For Hyperliquid to rise to the occasion, its growth must outpace the impact of its own token unlocks, whereas Solana benefits from diverse growth avenues. If HYPE’s market value remains above $40 billion—almost double its current size—through its next unlock, and Payward’s U.S. market comes to fruition, then whether Hyperliquid can overtake Solana will become a serious consideration. However, if the U.S. launch is delayed or the token burn rate decreases, the gap could widen instead.
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Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst who's spent nearly a decade making blockchain understandable—no easy task when most whitepapers read like fever dreams. He writes for 24/7 Wall St., covering Bitcoin, altcoins, and crypto market analysis for investors. Before crypto, he was a tech writer (back when explaining "the cloud" was peak innovation). Since 2018, he's written for CoinTelegraph, Yahoo Finance, The Block, Cryptonews, Zypto, Rain, and more—basically anywhere people want crypto news without the headache. Sam runs MacLabs Marketing, a content agency for crypto brands tired of sounding like AI wrote their website. He also publishes free crypto education on his site for Web3 enthusiasts who think "gas fees" is a typo. When he's not writing or staring at charts, Sam's either: - Watching anime (currently convinced One Piece has better tokenomics than most altcoins) - At the gym sculpting himself into a Greek god - Listening to the music your mum warned you only bad boys listen to Connect: LinkedIn | Email | MacLabs Marketing
