High Stakes Capital has fully exited a 602,421 $HYPE position for $22.9m around $38, extending a broader wave of profit‑taking among Hyperliquid whales near record highs.

A major Hyperliquid ($HYPE) whale known as High Stakes Capital has liquidated more than 600,000 $HYPE in the past 24 hours, cashing out close to $22.94 million and putting short-term pressure on the flagship Hyperliquid token. ChainCatcher, citing Onchain Lens data, reported that the address sold a total of 602,421 $HYPE for approximately 22.938 million $USDC, at an average price of $38.08, with the final tranche of 152,421 $HYPE netting around $5.82 million and completing the exit. The sell-off comes as $HYPE, the native token of Hyperliquid’s decentralized perpetuals and derivatives ecosystem, trades just below recent peaks at about $38.86, up 2.72% on the day.

PANews, also quoting Onchain Lens, noted that in the previous 12 hours the same whale had already sold 450,000 $HYPE for $17.12 million $USDC, at an average price of $38.05, while still holding 152,421 $HYPE worth $5.68 million before the final leg. Earlier, Phemex News reported that High Stakes Capital offloaded 300,000 $HYPE for $11.45 million at an average of $38.17, while still sitting on 302,421 $HYPE valued at about $11.54 million and a cumulative profit exceeding $33.2 million. This staggered exit pattern shows the whale systematically selling into strength around the $38–$39 range rather than dumping in a single transaction, a strategy that tends to limit slippage but can cap upside while the orders clear.

$HYPE volatility mirrors wider derivatives-token rotation

$HYPE is part of the derivatives and DeFi sector, functioning as the core token of the Hyperliquid network, where traders use the platform for decentralized perpetual futures and leveraged speculation. Hyperliquid’s token previously touched an all-time high near $39.93 as 24‑hour trading volume surged to roughly $496 million and open interest climbed to $10.1 billion, according to DailyCoin’s earlier reporting on $HYPE’s breakout. At the same time, total value locked in the protocol jumped more than 369% in a matter of weeks, from about $311.55 million to $1.462 billion, underscoring the scale of capital rotating into derivatives-focused DeFi.

Recent data suggests that large $HYPE holders are actively managing exposure around the $35–$40 band. KuCoin Flash reported that another genesis whale, linked to the address known as tummy.hl, began selling 498,000 $HYPE via TWAP orders for more than $20 million, with the sale expected to complete within 21 hours. Coingabbar’s price analysis noted that $HYPE was trading near $34.73 in early February, up 30.53% over the preceding month, with open interest at $1.65 billion even as trading volumes fell 18% to about $805.7 million, suggesting a structurally bullish but increasingly crowded trade. Against that backdrop, High Stakes Capital’s exit looks less like capitulation and more like a textbook profit realization into a stretched market, as derivatives tokens and exchange-linked assets continue to outperform much of the broader crypto complex.