Hyperliquid, Monero or Bitcoin: Which Could Hit a New All Time High First?

Hyperliquid (CRYPTO: HYPE), Monero (CRYPTO: XMR), and Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) stand out among large cryptocurrencies as the closest to a new all-time high, but their distances to those peaks vary significantly. As of October 17, 2026, Hyperliquid trades around $80, Monero around $558, and Bitcoin around $81,497.

Hyperliquid recently hit its peak of around $98 on September 23. Monero reached about $798 on January 14, while Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, set its record at $126,080 on October 6, 2025. Given these figures, which of these three might reach a new all-time high first?

Hyperliquid’s Climb to a New All-Time High Requires the Smallest Gain

To hit its record, Hyperliquid needs only a 22.9% increase, while Monero needs 42.9% and Bitcoin needs 54.7%. This puts Hyperliquid in the lead based on price distance alone.

Market capitalization, calculated by multiplying the coin’s price by its circulating supply, shows the dollar value needed to reach each record. If Hyperliquid hit its previous peak at its current supply, it would have a market cap of about $21.8 billion, up from $17.7 billion.

For Monero, its all-time high would imply a valuation of around $15 billion, up from the current $10.5 billion. In contrast, Bitcoin would need to rise from about $1.64 trillion to $2.53 trillion to hit a record.

However, supply dilution—when more coins enter circulation—makes it harder for older prices to repeat. Hyperliquid currently has around 222.4 million tokens in circulation out of a total supply of 955.3 million. This means its fully diluted value could reach approximately $93.6 billion at its record price.

Monero, on the other hand, has no maximum supply because of its tail emission, which rewards miners indefinitely. Bitcoin has around 20.1 million coins in circulation with a hard cap of 21 million, so its dilution effect is minimal.

Each Coin Needs a Different Buyer to Reach a Record

Hyperliquid operates as a crypto exchange, specializing in perpetual futures—contracts that don’t expire and track price movements. The platform spends about 97% to 99% of its trading fees to buy back and burn HYPE tokens, so higher trading volumes generally create consistent buying pressure. As of September 26, about 47.5 million HYPE tokens had been removed from circulation, costing roughly $1.32 billion.

On October 15, Ripple Prime launched swaps on Hyperliquid markets, and on October 16, Pump. fun introduced Hyperliquid-powered perpetual futures. However, despite these events, HYPE rose only 0.8% on Ripple’s launch day.

Monero, known for its privacy features that obscure transaction details, needs to maintain its upward momentum. Over the week leading up to October 17, it rose 8.1%, while Bitcoin fell 1.5% and Hyperliquid fell 5.2%.

In the last 30 days, Monero is up 13.5% and is up 85.7% over the past year, driven by broader interest in privacy-focused cryptocurrencies, which also benefited Zcash (CRYPTO:ZEC). The sustainability of this interest will greatly affect Monero’s next price move.

Bitcoin’s climb relies on renewed interest from spot ETF buyers. These funds buy and hold Bitcoin directly and trade like stocks. On October 15, cumulative net inflows into these funds totaled about $57 billion, slightly below the $57.8 billion peak recorded on October 6.

The funds attracted about $999 million on September 21 and another $715 million afterward, but volatility has since set in, including a $261.5 million outflow on October 14, followed by only about $5.1 million in inflows.

Unlocks, Thin Markets and an MSCI Review Stand in the Way

Hyperliquid faces challenges from scheduled token unlocks, which release team and community tokens and could increase selling pressure. Additionally, when trading activity slows, its buyback mechanism weakens, often during price declines. Moreover, Deribit is introducing over 90 USDC-settled contracts, which could split institutional trading volume across exchanges.

Monero’s primary challenge is liquidity. Many exchanges have delisted privacy coins because of stricter compliance measures, leaving the market thin. This makes Monero’s price susceptible to large swings with small orders. Furthermore, it currently lacks a US spot ETF.

Bitcoin also faces a potential hurdle from index provider MSCI, which will implement new rules in November. These rules will affect companies holding large amounts of digital assets, and Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ: MSTR | MSTR Price Prediction), which reported holding 846,000 bitcoins as of the second quarter, was flagged as possibly ineligible. Index-driven selling could dampen market sentiment, although companies are removed from the index only after failing the screening process in two consecutive annual filings.

Which Coin Could Hit a New All-Time High First?

In our view, Hyperliquid has the best chance of reaching a new all-time high first, while Bitcoin faces the biggest hurdles. Hyperliquid needs a smaller percentage increase, and its daily buyer-through trading fees and the recent introduction of new trading platforms strengthen its position. However, HYPE’s recent 5.2% drop suggests that volume from Ripple Prime and Pump. fun hasn’t yet shown up in fees, and its record depends on that volume.

For HYPE, regaining the October 10 $84 level could be the next step, while a daily close above $97.96 would confirm the record. Conversely, a fall below $78.45 might indicate that the anticipated trading volume has not materialized.

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