Hyperliquid Braces for October 6 HYPE Unlock Worth About $860M

Hyperliquid (HYPE) is approaching a major token supply event as core contributors are scheduled to receive another sizeable allocation. Tokenomist data shows that on September 6, contributors released just 0.19% of the planned amount, valued at $36.56 million, well below the intended 2.32% scheduled allocation. Attention now shifts to October 6, when 9.92 million HYPE are set to unlock, a tranche valued near $860 million. That represents roughly 3.9%–4.5% of circulating supply, raising dilution risk if contributors claim and sell aggressively. The unlock size also dwarfs typical daily spot trading volume, meaning heavy distribution could drain liquidity and increase downside pressure. Whether the September allocation ultimately hits the market quickly remains unclear. Wallet activity from contributor addresses will be a key signal for whether the October unlock translates into meaningful selling pressure or, as in September, results in only limited distribution. Institutional flows are building on the demand side. After four days without purchases, Bitwise's BHYP clients bought $10.5 million of HYPE on September 4, at an average price near $85 per token, or about 123,500 HYPE. Total cumulative BHYP purchases stand at $166.3 million. Even so, the latest $10.5 million buy is less than 1% of the 9.92 million tokens scheduled for October, underscoring that BHYP demand alone would not be sufficient to absorb the headline unlock if contributor selling is heavy. Continued inflows could soften incremental selling, while a pause in buying would leave more of the burden on broader market liquidity. Hyperliquid's burn mechanism adds another ongoing source of demand. Over the past 24 hours, $859,500 in fees generated $823,800 in HYPE-directed revenue at the time of writing, funding the purchase of 9,730 HYPE. Those tokens, worth $829,500, were bought around $85.27 and permanently burned, reducing supply rather than merely redistributing tokens. OnChain Lens estimates lifetime HYPE burned at 48.42 million tokens, about 4.84% of the 1 billion maximum supply. While current burn rates are unlikely to offset large unlocks in the near term, they steadily reduce the available float over time. In summary, Hyperliquid faces a 9.92 million HYPE unlock on October 6, with the scale of supply pressure largely dependent on contributor claims and selling behavior. Bitwise demand and ongoing burns provide some absorption, but remain too small to fully counter a heavy contributor distribution on their own.