Data & Insights: Hyperliquid Records; DATs Down Bad

HIP HIP Hooray

• Hyperliquid's HIP-3 permissionless perpetual markets recorded $5.2 billion in daily trading volume on Thursday, February 5
  • This was the protocol’s highest single-day figure since launching in October 2025
  • TradeXYZ, the dominant market deployer on HIP-3, continues to capture nearly 90% of all volume through its perpetual contracts on precious metals, equity indices and individual stocks.
  • TradeXYZ’s Silver perps alone generated $4.09 billion in trading volume on February 5, roughly 68% of total HIP-3 activity that day, as the commodity's price volatility attracted traders seeking alternatives to crypto.
• The surge in HIP-3 volumes initially occurred in the last week of January, when Gold broke $5,000 per ounce for the first time and silver crossed $100
  • In a rather ironic twist of fate, both metals experienced a historically sharp correction just days later, falling by ~20% and 30% in a single day.
  • Open interest (OI) on HIP-3 also reached a record $1.06 billion prior to the crash, with TradeXYZ making up 87% of it.
  • As of the time of writing, HIP-3 OI still stands at ~$665 million, up 88% MoM.
• Despite the correction, the bright side is that the precious metals frenzy has transformed Hyperliquid’s perception from a crypto-native perpetuals platform into what can be considered a "full asset trading layer" where silver and gold now rank among the top five most-traded instruments.
  • Further testament to this comes from an analysis of how volume traded on HIP-3’s Gold and Silver markets had reached ~1% of COMEX’s volume, the world's largest derivatives exchange for metals.

Bittercoin

• Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $14.07 billion in aggregate trading volume on February 5, the highest single-day figure since launching in January 2024
  • The record volume came alongside capitulation-level selling as the ETFs saw over $1.25 billion in net outflows from Tuesday to Thursday, with BlackRock’s IBIT responsible for nearly 40% of that. 
  • Thursday also saw IBIT process more than $10 billion worth of trading volume, its highest ever single-day record.
  • This occurred as Bitcoin momentarily fell to $60,000, marking a 15-month low to its lowest point since before the US presidential election.
• The combination of record volume and steep outflows signals peak fear among institutional and traditional holders
  • The price of Bitcoin has now essentially halved over the last 3 months and is down over 20% YTD, making it the worst-performing trillion-dollar asset in the world.
  • Though it has rebounded by over 10% since its recent lows, it remains to be seen whether $60,000 was the bottom or whether further selling is to occur, be it from ETFs or dormant BTC wallets.

DATs Down

• Digital asset treasury companies, which are publicly traded firms holding significant cryptocurrency on their balance sheets, experienced a sharp reversal, erasing most of the gains accumulated in January. 
  • The cumulative market capitalization of these companies rose nearly 20% to peak around $120 billion mid-month before retracing to show a decline year-to-date.
• The selloff reignited concerns about whether highly leveraged DAT companies might face forced liquidations during severe price drawdowns. This question has persistently shadowed the sector since these firms began accumulating substantial crypto positions, with investors attempting to assess the durability of their treasury strategies during market stress.
  • MicroStrategy addressed some of these concerns during last week's earnings call, stating that it would only be unable to service its liabilities if Bitcoin prices fell to approximately $9,000. 
  • This threshold provides some reassurance about the company's risk management, given that current Bitcoin levels remain well above this point. 
• Many DAT companies maintain less transparent borrowing arrangements, with loan covenants and margin call triggers not always fully disclosed in public filings. 
• Market participants are closely monitoring whether any treasury companies begin reducing their digital asset positions in response to recent volatility. 
  • Such moves could signal stress within less-capitalized firms and potentially create additional selling pressure. The coming weeks may reveal which DAT models prove resilient and which require deleveraging when tested by drawdowns.

Tokenized Stonks

• Alongside the growth in HIP3 stocks. The tokenized stock market is also showing signs of adoption. Platforms like xStock and Ondo are establishing themselves as the primary issuers of third-party custodied tokenized stocks. 
  • While the aggregate market capitalization of these tokenized equities remains modest at roughly $3.5 billion, trading activity tells a different story entirely. 
  • The monthly transfer volume of these tokens reached nearly $3 billion in Dec 2025, almost equal to their market capitalization, suggesting high interest in trading stocks onchain. 
• Among the leading tokenized offerings, major tech stocks dominate the landscape. Tesla's xStock leads at $68 million, and various other xStock and Ondo-issued tokens make up the current landscape. 
• The competitive dynamics may shift as native issuance models gain regulatory approval. Unlike current wrapped synthetic approaches used by xStock and Ondo, native issuance would involve direct on-chain representation of equity ownership. 
  • This structure could offer clearer legal frameworks and potentially deeper liquidity by eliminating intermediary layers. As regulatory clarity improves and more companies explore tokenization directly, the current model of third-party issuers wrapping traditional stocks may face pressure from more integrated solutions.
• The space remains nascent, but genuine market demand may help push companies on the fence towards tokenization. Whether this activity represents sustainable adoption or primarily speculative trading will become clearer as the ecosystem matures and regulatory frameworks solidify.

Miners Coming Up Empty

• Bitcoin's hash price has declined 73% since the April 2024 halving, from $0.111 to approximately $0.03, marking one of the most challenging periods for mining economics.
  • This metric represents the expected value of one petahash per second of hashing power per day, providing a direct measure of mining profitability before operational costs.
  • The decline reflects the compound pressure from both reduced block rewards post-halving and increased network competition as more miners have entered the space, driving hashrate to new highs.
• Mining stocks, however, have maintained valuations amid these margin pressures. The $WGMI Mining ETF, a benchmark for publicly traded mining companies, is down only 4% year-to-date, outperforming Bitcoin as miners have pivoted to include AI compute into core business operations.
• The Bitcoin mining business faces a challenging calculus. They can choose to maintain operations at compressed margins or reduce capacity and risk ceding market share to competitors with lower cost structures.
• Transaction fee revenue remains a critical variable for mining sustainability going forward. With block subsidies declining every 4 years, fee generation driven by network activity becomes increasingly important for miner revenue diversification.