Arthur Hayes has denied buying back HYPE after an on-chain alert tied a fresh Bybit withdrawal to a wallet linked to the BitMEX co-founder. The alert said the wallet withdrew 33,978 HYPE, wor
Arthur Hayes has denied buying back HYPE after an on-chain alert tied a fresh Bybit withdrawal to a wallet linked to the BitMEX co-founder.
The alert said the wallet withdrew 33,978 HYPE, worth about $2.09 million, after Hayes sold his HYPE position last week. Hayes responded directly to the claim with a blunt denial, writing: “I didn’t buy shit.”
The denial comes only days after Hayes sold all of his HYPE above $72 and warned that energy prices, AI IPOs and U.S. political risk could pressure the broader market. That move marked a sharp reversal for one of Hyperliquid’s loudest recent supporters and helped trigger a fast sentiment swing around the token.
HYPE dropped nearly 23% after the sale, falling below $56 before rebounding toward the low $60s. The token remains one of the most closely watched large-cap crypto assets, with live market trackers still placing it inside the top 10 and showing market-cap estimates in the mid-teens of billions depending on the circulating-supply figure used.
The rebound shows that traders are still treating Hyperliquid’s fee model as a major part of the HYPE thesis, even after Hayes’ exit added short-term pressure. Hyperliquid routes most protocol fees into its Assistance Fund for HYPE purchases, while HYPE in the assistance fund is burned, removing those tokens from circulating and total supply.
That mechanism has become central to the bullish case because it links trading activity, protocol revenue and token demand. When volumes rise, more fees can flow into buybacks. When buybacks grow, traders often treat them as a structural support layer for HYPE, although that support still depends on activity staying strong.
Hayes’ denial matters because the market was quick to read the Bybit withdrawal as a possible round-trip trade. If Hayes had sold above $72 and then bought back near the low $60s, it would have looked like a fast tactical re-entry after helping cool the market. His response pushes back against that interpretation and leaves the wallet movement unresolved rather than confirmed as a personal buyback.
The episode adds another twist to a fast-moving HYPE narrative. Hayes previously framed Hyperliquid as one of the most important trades of the cycle, then dumped HYPE and NEAR as he warned that macro and political risks could hit risk assets.
That makes the current rebound more fragile than a normal dip recovery. Traders are watching the same three pressure points at once: Hayes’ public positioning, linked-wallet activity and the strength of Hyperliquid’s fee-driven buyback machine.
For now, the clearest confirmed facts are narrow. A wallet linked by on-chain trackers withdrew 33,978 HYPE from Bybit, Hayes denied buying back, and HYPE has recovered part of last week’s drawdown while staying below its recent highs. The next market signal will come from whether HYPE can hold the low-$60s rebound without another wave of whale-linked selling.
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