Hyperliquid Gains Wall Street Attention as Citrini Research Calls HYPE a ‘Compelling’ Investment

Citrini Research turns bullish on Hyperliquid

Citrini Research, the influential research firm known for its thematic market calls, has identified Hyperliquid and its native HYPE token as one of the most compelling opportunities in crypto.

In a recent report, the firm argued that Hyperliquid stands apart from most digital assets because it generates what Citrini described as "legitimate cash flow" while maintaining a protocol-level token repurchase mechanism. The report marks one of the strongest endorsements Hyperliquid has received from a traditional market research firm.

Unlike many crypto projects that rely heavily on narrative and speculation, Hyperliquid's investment case is increasingly tied to trading activity occurring on its decentralized perpetual futures exchange.

The buyback machine behind HYPE

At the center of Citrini's thesis is Hyperliquid's Assistance Fund.

According to the report, more than 90% of protocol fees are directed into the fund, which systematically purchases HYPE tokens on the open market. Since January 2025, those buybacks have exceeded $2 billion, making Hyperliquid one of the largest token repurchase programs in the crypto industry.

According to DeFi Llama, Hyperliquid's annualized fees now stands at $1.866 billion. 

Citrini estimates that Hyperliquid accounts for nearly half of all token buyback activity across the crypto market this year. The firm believes this creates a direct link between platform growth and token demand.

"The structure itself is attractive, but the scale is astonishing," Citrini wrote, according to excerpts from the report.

The model has drawn comparisons to corporate share repurchase programs, though Hyperliquid's mechanism is embedded directly into the protocol rather than being subject to management decisions.

Institutional interest continues to grow

The report arrives at a time when institutional interest in Hyperliquid appears to be accelerating.

Citrini highlighted the launch of Hyperliquid investment products from asset managers including Bitwise and 21Shares. According to figures cited in the report, the products generated nearly $600 million in trading volume and attracted more than $136 million in net inflows during their first few weeks of trading.

The bullish call also comes as Hyperliquid treasury companies continue outperforming much of the broader crypto treasury sector.

That divergence has helped strengthen the narrative that Hyperliquid is evolving beyond a niche trading platform into one of crypto's most closely watched ecosystems.

Why Wall Street is paying attention

For years, many institutional investors struggled to evaluate crypto assets using traditional valuation frameworks.

Hyperliquid's growing revenue base may be changing that conversation.

The protocol has generated more than $1 billion in annualized fees and processes hundreds of billions of dollars in trading volume, creating measurable economic activity that investors can analyze.

That is a major reason why Citrini believes HYPE differs from what it described as the "memetic majority" of crypto assets. Rather than depending solely on speculative demand, Hyperliquid's token economics are tied directly to platform usage and revenue generation.

Whether that model can continue delivering outsized returns remains to be seen.

For now, however, Hyperliquid has gained something many crypto projects spend years trying to achieve: attention from a research firm whose calls are increasingly being watched across both Wall Street and digital asset markets.