Of the top 20 cryptocurrencies in the world, only a handful are in positive territory for the year. Market bellwethers Bitcoin (BTC 0.38%) and Ethereum (ETH 0.14%) are down more than 15% each, and more speculative altcoins are down as much as 25%.
But amid this market mayhem, there's one cryptocurrency that has managed to soar in value by 30% to start the year: Hyperliquid (HYPE +3.53%). If the hype about HYPE is right, this cryptocurrency could soar 80% or higher in 2026.
The hype about HYPE
Last year, Hyperliquid exploded in popularity, amid all the hoopla about crypto perpetual futures ("perps"). Hyperliquid has quickly become one of the top decentralized exchanges for trading crypto perpetual futures, and trading volume has thus far been through the roof. This is a product with immense appeal for risk-seeking crypto investors: It enables them to bet on the future price of a cryptocurrency, with no fixed expiration date and maximal leverage.
CRYPTO: HYPE
Key Data Points
After launching at a price of $3 in November 2024, Hyperliquid eventually hit a high of $59 in September 2025. But since then, it has collapsed in price, and is currently trading for just $33 as I write this.
That's why I think Hyperliquid could see a rally of 80% or higher in 2026. The market is just now waking up to the fact that HYPE is badly undervalued. A rally of 80% would bring it back to its price of $59 from just a few months ago.
The big catalyst for Hyperliquid in 2026
There's one big new potential catalyst for HYPE in 2026, and that's the imminent arrival of new "outcome contracts" for the Hyperliquid trading platform, as well as new products for options traders.
These "outcome contracts" are a hybrid of prediction market contracts and financial derivatives, in which the final outcome is binary (i.e., yes or no). If they're a hit with investors, they could propel Hyperliquid to even higher trading volumes and even greater popularity.
Image source: Getty Images.
Some have suggested that the Hyperliquid platform might even begin to woo away traders who might have otherwise used a platform such as Kalshi or Polymarket to make a prediction about the future price of a cryptocurrency. If that's the case, Hyperliquid might go on to set another all-time high in 2026.
Lessons from the 2022 crypto collapse
Of course, any march higher by Hyperliquid is going to be complicated if cryptocurrency behemoths Bitcoin and Ethereum can't get things rolling again. But it's not impossible.
As a point of reference, I looked at returns from 2022, when the entire crypto market cratered in value. Bitcoin fell by 64% and Ethereum fell by 68%. Some altcoins lost as much as 95% of their value.
But a few names managed to shine, including GMX, a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange allowing users to trade with high leverage. Today, GMX is a forgotten crypto with a tiny $60 million market cap. But in 2022, it managed to deliver returns of 111% to investors, making it one of the top-performing cryptocurrencies of the year.
All of which leads me to think: 2026 could end up being the year of Hyperliquid. If HYPE is the new GMX, it could nearly double in value this year.
