Hyperliquid will release 3.75 million HYPE tokens worth $340 million on October 6, the largest single event in a heavy week of token unlocks. The team has previously said the entire batch is going to one institutional buyer.
The release is part of a wider supply wave. Tokens worth a combined $1.11 billion are scheduled to unlock between October 5 and October 11 across multiple blockchains, according to data compiled by BeInCrypto. Unlocks of this size can add short-term volatility, as recipients gain the ability to sell newly freed tokens.
The structure of the HYPE release is what sets it apart. A pre-arranged transfer to a single institution typically carries less immediate sell pressure than a distribution to early investors or contributors, though the buyer’s identity and holding terms have not been disclosed. Hyperliquid, a decentralized perpetual futures exchange on its own Layer-1, currently has 474.83 million HYPE in released supply out of a 1 billion total. The protocol is also running an active buyback program. The Cryptonomist reported that Hyperliquid’s USDC reserve funding has sent $14.58 million to HYPE buybacks.
Other unlocks follow a more conventional pattern. Ethena releases 171.88 million ENA, valued at $41.52 million, on October 5, about 1.88% of its released supply. Of that batch, 93.75 million ENA goes to core contributors and 78.13 million to investors. Aptos will unlock 11.31 million APT worth $9.06 million on October 11, split across core contributors, the community, investors and the Aptos foundation. Aerodrome Finance (AERO), Movement (MOVE) and Babylon (BABY) are also adding new supply the same week.
The unlocks land in a market still trying to break higher. Bitcoin traded near $85,360 in an October 5 CoinGecko snapshot after briefly clearing $87,000 on October 2. Thinner order books add to the risk: a CoinGecko report found SOL’s depth within 2% of price fell from roughly $28 million to about $20 million per side year over year. In shallower markets, investor-allocated unlocks such as ENA’s can move prices more than headline figures suggest.
For HYPE, the key signal will be onchain flows after October 6. If the tokens stay put with the institutional recipient, the unlock may pass with little market impact. Transfers to exchanges would point to distribution.
