Citrini Research, known for moving AI equities with its reports, published an analysis calling Hyperliquid compelling, citing the protocol’s Assistance Fund directing more than 90% of fees to HYPE buybacks and its command of close to half of all crypto token buyback activity this year.
Citrini Research, the subscription analytics firm whose reports have previously triggered sharp moves in AI-linked equities, published an analysis Monday calling Hyperliquid a compelling investment thesis. The firm argues the decentralized exchange accounts for nearly half of all token buyback activity across the crypto market.
The report, published via Citrini’s Substack on Monday, centers on the protocol’s Assistance Fund: more than 90% of fees generated by Hyperliquid route directly into the fund, which uses those proceeds to repurchase HYPE tokens on the open market.
“Unlike the memetic majority of crypto (bitcoin included), HYPE generates legitimate cash flow,” Citrini wrote.
The Buyback Case
The scale sets Hyperliquid apart from most protocols, Citrini argued. The firm estimated that Hyperliquid’s repurchases represented close to half of all token buybacks recorded across the digital asset industry this year. It framed the mechanism as structural rather than a promotional campaign.
Hyperliquid generated $28.6 million in fees over the trailing seven days, per DefiLlama, with an annualized run rate of roughly $1.49 billion at the current pace. The protocol has accumulated $1.34 billion in all-time fees since launch.
“The Hyperliquid runway is wide,” Citrini wrote. “We think there is still significant market share to be captured.”
Beyond protocol revenue, Citrini cited the recently launched Hyperliquid ETFs from Bitwise and 21Shares as a further demand signal. The two products generated nearly $600 million in trading volume and attracted more than $136 million in net inflows during their first three weeks of trading, per Citrini.
Why Citrini’s Read Carries Weight
Citrini Research publishes thematic equity and macro analysis via Substack. The firm drew wider market attention when prior reports on AI-infrastructure names contributed to sharp corrections in several AI-linked equities, establishing a track record for moving institutional positioning.
The firm’s shift into crypto with a named, affirmative thesis on a specific token is a departure from its usual equity focus. The analysis frames HYPE as a cash-flow asset rather than a speculative trade, language more typical of institutional equity research than crypto commentary.
All Eyes on Hyperliquid
The Citrini report arrives inside a broader stretch of institutional attention for Hyperliquid. Intercontinental Exchange chief Jeffrey Sprecher called the protocol “bigger than Nasdaq” earlier this year, drawing TradFi notice to its market-structure ambitions.
The report also follows a meaningful structural development in the buyback mechanism itself. On June 8, Coinbase activated its role as official USDC treasury deployer on Hyperliquid, routing most of the yield generated from the protocol’s USDC reserves back into the ecosystem. Coinbase had previously estimated the arrangement could increase Hyperliquid’s annual revenue by as much as $200 million. Any expansion in treasury income flows directly into the Assistance Fund’s buyback capacity.
Separately, Hyperliquid perps hold $8.92 billion in open interest, the largest share among decentralized derivatives venues, per DefiLlama, supporting Citrini’s claim about market share still available for capture.
Citrini noted that despite HYPE recently overtaking Solana on a per-token price basis, Solana’s market capitalization remains more than twice the size of HYPE’s, a gap it framed as room for continued gain.
Where HYPE Stands
HYPE was trading around $59 Monday, down roughly 8% over the prior 24 hours, per CoinGecko. The token reached an all-time high of $75.48 on June 2 and sits roughly 22% below that peak.
The circulating market cap stands at $13.1 billion, per CoinGecko.
