Source context: Four Pillars’ weekly report, translated and compiled by TechFlow and published on November 10, 2026, at 12:52:45 UTC+8. The figures below reflect that report’s historical reporting period, not current market conditions.
Hyperliquid spent $288 million buying back HYPE in the first half of 2026, according to the Hyperliquid Research Collective’s half-year report summarized by Four Pillars. Yet the same report identified $4.3 billion in vested but unclaimed allocations—a potential supply overhang that remains distinct from tokens already circulating.
The central economic question is how trading activity translates into protocol revenue and token purchases, and how those purchases compare with supply that holders may eventually claim.
Trading revenue funded substantial buybacks
Hyperliquid recorded $351 million in protocol revenue in the first half of 2026, up 6.4% year over year but down 38% from the record second half of 2025. June revenue reached $71 million, its strongest monthly result since the preceding November.
The protocol spent $288 million on HYPE buybacks during the half-year. Over the same period, HYPE rose 155%, while bitcoin fell 33%. Those price movements are historical observations; they do not establish that buybacks caused the gain or imply future returns.
The report described a modest contraction in net circulating supply alongside growing institutional holdings. Those developments need to be considered separately from the amount of vested supply that remained unclaimed.
HIP-3 expanded volume faster than revenue
HIP-3 allows external deployers to establish multi-asset perpetual markets on Hyperliquid’s infrastructure. In the first half, those markets generated $324 billion in trading volume, representing 25.1% of the platform’s total matched volume. Their share rose to 32.0% in the second quarter, with markets extending into commodities, equity indexes and individual stocks.
Revenue contribution was considerably smaller:
- HIP-3 markets generated 7.4% of protocol revenue.
- Native crypto perpetuals generated 85.6%.
- Trade[XYZ] alone accounted for 97% of HIP-3 trading volume in June.
The report attributed the gap between HIP-3’s volume share and revenue share to subsidized fee pricing. The mechanism therefore broadened market activity without producing a proportionate share of revenue during the period.
For token-economy analysis, the distinction matters: additional notional trading volume is not equivalent to additional funds available for buybacks. The report identified monetization of multi-asset activity as an opportunity, while highlighting dependence on one dominant deployer as a concentration risk.
USDC reserve income was potential funding, not recognized revenue
At the end of the reporting period, stablecoin supply on HyperEVM totaled $5.6 billion, with USDC accounting for 96%.
Under the AQAv2 arrangement described in the report, approximately 90% of reserve interest income, after cost adjustments, would flow to the Assistance Fund. Using the prevailing benchmark interest rate and stablecoin balances, the report estimated a potential annualized contribution of $135 million to $200 million.
That estimate was not recognized first-half revenue. The report stated that the actual economic distribution remained to be determined as of publication.
The projected contribution depended on three variables: retained stablecoin balances, interest rates and the final effective revenue-sharing percentage. It could provide another funding source for token buybacks, but should not be treated as an established cash flow or a promised return to HYPE holders.
Unclaimed allocations complicate the supply picture
By June 30, three U.S. spot ETFs had attracted cumulative net inflows of $309 million. Under the report’s methodology, ETFs, publicly listed treasury companies and the Assistance Fund together held approximately 82 million HYPE, equivalent to 8.2% of total supply.
That percentage refers to total supply, not circulating supply.
Team members claimed only 4.7% of their scheduled unlocked allocations during the first half. Limited claiming reduced the amount of those allocations entering circulation during the period, but did not eliminate the underlying entitlement.
The report valued vested but unclaimed allocations at $4.3 billion. It did not provide a future claiming schedule for that balance. Accordingly, it represents potential supply pressure rather than a dated unlock event or evidence that all of those tokens would be sold.
Regulated access remained conditional
The weekly report also described ICE’s October 29 strategic investment in, and partnership with, Trade[XYZ]. The parties planned to use Hyperliquid technology to develop U.S.-regulated trading and clearing infrastructure. Separately, HYPE-holding listed company Hyperliquid Strategies was applying for futures commission merchant registration.
Both initiatives remained subject to regulatory approval. Four Pillars argued that regulated access could broaden participation, but emphasized that acceptance of perpetual contracts did not automatically authorize decentralized platforms to serve U.S. customers.
These were prospective market-access developments—not confirmed additions to protocol revenue or token demand.
A separate issuance change at NEAR
The roundup also reported that NEAR governance approved a proposal to reduce the token issuance inflation cap to 1.6%. It supplied no implementation date, previous cap or detailed issuance schedule. The supported conclusion is therefore limited to approval of the lower cap, not a quantified change in circulating supply.
For Hyperliquid, the report’s key distinction is between realized fee revenue and buybacks, conditional reserve-income estimates, and vested tokens that had not yet been claimed. None should be substituted for another when assessing the token’s supply-and-demand mechanics.
The half-year research was produced by the Hyperliquid Research Collective, an initiative jointly established by GLC Research and Four Pillars.
Original article: Four Pillars weekly report, translated and compiled by TechFlow