HYPE Almost Hits $40 Billion as OI Tops $9B

Axiom Hits $100M Revenue | Hippo Protocol Mainnet

Marco Manoppo & Karon Pangestu
May 26, 2025

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Good Morning.

James Wynn flipped his $1B long position, and he’s now short BTC instead. Is $110k really the top? Only time will tell. Meanwhile, the majority of alts aren’t performing that well against BTC, except for a select few that has all the mindshares. Flows into alts are still unreliable, and the boom-and-bust feels like its happening a lot faster these days.

Check out our latest yield guide episode on LevelUSD stablecoin farming.

In Today's Email:

What Matters: HYPE Soars as Hyperliquid OI Tops $9B 📈
Product of the Week: Hippo Protocol Mainnet 🦛
Charts: Axiom Hits $100M Revenue, James Wynn PnL 🔎

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Narratives: Hype trenches, virtual trenches.

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WHAT MATTERS

HYPE Soars as Hyperliquid OI Tops $9B

Source: Coinglass

State of play: HYPE climbed to an all-time high of $36.2, rising 15% in the last 24 hours. The surge follows a broader wave of activity on Hyperliquid, which recorded over $9.2B in open interest, its highest to date.

The increase of Hyperliquid OI is driven by rising demand for Bitcoin, Ether, and HYPE derivatives.
Bitcoin alone accounted for $4.2B in open interest, with a trader known as “moonpig” (James Wynn) opening a $1B long position at 40x leverage.
Ether followed with $1.3B, and HYPE contracts reached $748M.
Other actively traded tokens included Solana, XRP, and FARTCOIN.
Hyperliquid’s trading volume hit $11.5B, while daily revenue reached $3.4M, according to DefiLlama.

Why it matters: The uptick in derivatives activity reflects increasing momentum around Hyperliquid’s on-chain trading ecosystem as crypto markets push higher.

Our take: Any dip in HYPE is about to happen (most likely), but it will be bid up hard by those who got sidelined.

For builders and investors: Expanding to HyperEVM is the most EV+ you can do if you already have an EVM-base code.

PRODUCT OF THE WEEK

Hippocrat Rebrands as Hippo Protocol and Launches Healthcare Data Mainnet

Most mainnets focus on DeFi, gaming, or general apps, while healthcare with strict privacy and regulations is overlooked. Hippo Protocol unlocks siloed healthcare data by enabling secure, interoperable blockchain adoption.

Similar successes include Solana’s partnerships with Visa and Shopify for fast, low-cost blockchain payments, and Ondo Finance’s tokenization of US Treasuries with top institutions to bring real assets on-chain.
Hippo Protocol is purpose-built for healthcare data, meeting the privacy, interoperability, and compliance standards hospitals, EMRs, and AI partners require.

Key features of Hippo Protocol:

Regulatory-Grade Compliance: HL7/FHIR, HIPAA, GDPR integrated with no extra customization needed.
Chain Abstraction: Zero UX friction—no wallets or gas fees, just HIPAA-compliant interoperability.
Data Sovereignty and Incentives: Patients control their data and are incentivized for sharing it with data users.
AI-Ready: Supports privacy-preserving AI for real-time analytics and research.

With over 4M users onboard, 1.4M annual data renewals, and partnerships across Asia’s top healthcare institutions, Hippo Protocol is moving beyond vision to real adoption.

Explore the mainnet and follow Hippo Protocol on X for updates.

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CHARTS OF THE WEEK

Axiom Hits $100M Revenue

Source: Dune - @adam_tehc

State of play: Axiom, a trading platform co-founded by two recent college graduates, has generated $100M in fees just four months after its early-access launch in January 2025.

The platform supports token swaps on Solana and perpetual futures on Hyperliquid, offering users rewards and yield on idle funds.
Backed by Y Combinator, Axiom plans to expand beyond Solana and Hyperliquid but currently has no plans for a native token.
The founders prioritize a seamless trading experience over heavy marketing.

Our take: Trading is still the number one business model in crypto.

Hyperliquid Whale Flips $1B BTC Long to Short

James Wynn PnL/Source: Coinglass

State of play: Hyperliquid trader James Wynn closed a $1.2B long BTC position, taking a $17.5M loss, and quickly opened a $1B short position with 40x leverage.

Despite recent losses, Wynn has overall profits above $40M on the platform.
His new short bet is currently profitable.
Meanwhile, Hyperliquid’s token price hits near all-time highs amid record open interest.

Our take: Wynn is taking a lot of risk by being so public with a short position, arguably much higher than a long position. But maybe he thinks it’s indeed the top for now.

QUICK BITES

Synthetix and Derive call off $27M merger proposal.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs log the highest volume week of 2025.
Axiom hits $100M in revenue just four months after launch.
Bitcoin inflows projected to reach $420B in 2026, according to Bitwise.
Crypto investment products saw $3.3B in inflows; YTD total tops $10B.
Coinbase sued in a class action over COIN price drop tied to the data breach.
US Judge overturns fraud convictions of Mango Markets exploiter Eisenberg.
Hyperliquid whale turns bearish, flipping $1B BTC position from long to short.
Polygon co-founder Mihailo Bjelic steps down, marking the third founder exit.

NOTEWORTHY READS & MEME

Mattdotfi’s read on YT sKAITO airdrop strategy.
Noon’s read on safely expanding sources of yield.
Wublockchain’s read on how Sui Foundation will handle the $160M dilemma.

We went to the streets to ask what @pasternak should do next. The results may surprise you.
@nikitabier
@lmrankhan
@andy8052
— Charles Curran (@charliebcurran)
8:13 PM • May 24, 2025

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Disclaimer: All the information presented in this publication and its affiliates is strictly for educational purposes only. It should not be construed or taken as financial, legal, investment, or any other form of advice.

HYPE *Almost* Hits $40 Billion as OI Tops $9B