Hyperliquid Labs set for first HYPE token payout as 1.2 million tokens unstake

Hyperliquid Labs, the organization that launched the Hyperliquid decentralized exchange, is set to receive its first major allocation of HYPE tokens early next month.

According to a Discord post on Sunday, some 1.2 million HYPE tokens, worth about $312 million, were “unstaked to be distributed to team members on Jan 6.”

HYPE, the native Hyperliquid token, was introduced via a much-anticipated community airdrop in November 2024 alongside plans to reserve about 23.8% of the total supply for core contributors that will be gradually unlocked. The total HYPE supply is capped at 1 billion tokens.

“Moving forward, distributions, if any, will take place on the 6th of the month,” Hyperliquid co-founder iliensinc said on Discord. 

There are currently about 238.4 million HYPE tokens in circulation. Trading around $26, HYPE currently has a market capitalization of $6.2 billion and a fully diluted valuation of $25.1 billion, according to The Block’s data. Over 61% of the total HYPE supply remains locked.

The genesis distribution immediately awarded about 310 million HYPE tokens to early protocol adopters and community members and set aside about 237 million tokens for core contributors, subject to a one-year cliff followed by a 24-month vesting plan, according to DeFi Llama projections. 

Although iliensinc hinted at a monthly unlock schedule, the full Hyperliquid Labs vesting timetable does not appear to be publicly available. The Block reached out to Hyperliquid via direct message for more information. 

Earlier this month, the Hyper Foundation proposed burning some $1 billion worth of HYPE tokens sent to the Assistance Fund, a system designed to automatically send a portion of the Layer 1 blockchain's trading fees to an inaccessible address, essentially taking the tokens out of circulation. 

Hyperliquid remains the largest decentralized perps DEX by accumulated volume, according to The Block’s data, though its share of the total onchain perpetuals market has shrunk due to the recent rise of rivals like Lighter, on Ethereum, and Aster, on BNB Chain.