Up 20% in 1 Day, is Hyperliquid Worth Buying Hand Over Fist Right Now?

Up 20% in 1 Day, is Hyperliquid Worth Buying Hand Over Fist Right Now?

Alex Carchidi, The Motley Fool

Sun, August 23, 2026 at 1:17 AM GMT+3 4 min read

• HYPE32196-USD +4.20%

• NVDA -0.98%

On Aug. 19, Hyperliquid (CRYPTO: HYPE) soared by 20% in the wake of one very special catalyst. All it took was one sentence uttered by President Donald Trump stating that Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Michael Selig is working on a pathway for the decentralized crypto derivatives exchange to operate in the United States legally.

Today, Hyperliquid intentionally blocks U.S.-based users, as it isn't confident in the legality of offering its perpetual futures contracts to them, so the fact that Trump wants it to have access to the U.S. market could be a game changer. But does that make the coin worth buying, considering that it has a deep roster of competitors, boasts no real competitive edge, and that it's still a fledgling operation?

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Words aren't the same as actions

First, let's get one thing straight: The president can't authorize Hyperliquid to operate in the U.S. via a comment at a crypto summit, even if it's at the White House.

No official approval from the CFTC or any other regulator has been announced, nor has there yet been any official commentary regarding what an authorization process might look like or when any of the relevant steps of that process might occur. It is possible that some of Hyperliquid's features or markets would still be restricted for U.S. customers even if it is ultimately given the green light to start operating in the U.S., which would limit its potential economic benefits.

So for now, the market is reacting to the idea that Hyperliquid has a fast-track path into the U.S. market that didn't exist before. That would be a massive market for the exchange to gain access to, and the transaction fees it could generate would be very bullish for the coin's price. But for now, traders are putting the cart before the horse.

Activity from U.S. traders could send this coin into overdrive

So is it worth buying the coin with gusto despite the good news above being preliminary and as-yet unimplemented? In a word, yes.

All but a sliver of the trading fees incurred by transactions on Hyperliquid are routed toward buying back its coin from the market. The repurchased coins are burned, thereby permanently cutting the total supply of Hyperliquid, almost like an automated version of a stock buyback.

The crypto bear market has put a bit of a damper on the pace of that process, however. Hyperliquid's revenue peaked near $357 million in the third quarter of 2025, and has declined for three straight quarters since then, reaching $202 million in Q2 of this year. Entering the U.S. market would represent an opportunity to return to top-line growth, and, if the crypto bear market were to end, the result could be a phenomenal increase in activity on the exchange. The upshot of that activity would accrue directly to coinholders, same as always.

But even if Hyperliquid ultimately does not get permitted to compete in the U.S., it'll still very likely capture a tailwind from the bear market ending, which will happen eventually one way or another. Therefore, in my view, this is one coin that is indeed worth buying hand over fist.

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Alex Carchidi has positions in Hyperliquid. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Hyperliquid. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Up 20% in 1 Day, is Hyperliquid Worth Buying Hand Over Fist Right Now? was originally published by The Motley Fool