In a record-breaking event, Hyperliquid launched a tremendous $7 billion airdrop last November. The cryptocurrency platform strategically apportioned 28% of its HYPE token supply to its early users. This VC-less approach, through increasing community involvement, positioned Hyperliquid’s launch as extraordinary and challenging to duplicate.
The unique airdrop dynamics boosted HYPE’s value after its launch due to the strategic exclusion of venture capitalists (VCs), as implied by Greythorn Asset Management’s Jae Sik Choi. Besides, the use of protocol revenue in the form of a “HYPE Assistance Fund” has been instrumental in maintaining consistent demand by making regular token purchases. However, Choi cautioned that this strategy isn’t self-sustaining in the long term for price growth.
Hyperliquid, priding on championing equality, does not discriminate in rewarding loyal users based on size. Synthetix founder, Kain Warwick, emphasized the importance of timing for such a strategy and noted their successful utilization of bear market conditions for community building. The results were unparalleled.
A staggering 27.5% of HYPE’s supply was airdropped to more than 94,000 users on November 29, which was initially valued at $1 billion. This value spectacularly shot up to $7.5 billion, outpacing other significant airdrops like Uniswap and dYdX.
Hyperliquid stands out due to its customer-friendly offerings, significant liquidity, and high transaction processing power. The platform can handle a whopping 100,000 orders per second, outstripping its competitors like GMX. It has also attracted users with lower fees and impressive order book functionality. However, they had to deal with security issues and criticisms about potential failures in large-scale token distributions without enough product attention or adoption.
Hyperliquid’s revolutionary launch opens a new horizon for decentralized exchanges. It underscores the possibilities tied to fair launches and community-led models in the crypto world. However, reaching those heights remains a considerable challenge for many projects.