HYPE Surged 46% Over the Week and Moved Closer to Its All-time High
HYPE approached its all-time high after a combination of several factors, while the market is beginning to show signs of overheating.
Summary:
- ETF news attracted new interest in the asset.
- A short squeeze accelerated the upward move.
- The market is starting to show signs of overheating.
- The next few days could be decisive for the direction.
HYPE returned close to its all-time high
HYPE was trading at $56.43 on May 21, after gaining approximately 17% over the past 24 hours and 46% for the week. As a result, the asset is now only about 6% below its all-time high, which was reached at $61.
It appears that the rally was driven by two separate reasons.
ETF news brought the first wave of buyers
The first part of the move began as early as May 17 following excitement surrounding HYPE ETF products.
Bitwise and 21Shares launched HYPE-related ETFs around May 15, 2026, allowing traditional investors to gain exposure to the asset without needing crypto wallets or decentralized exchanges.
This is important because such products often make it easier for institutional investors and capital that would otherwise struggle to enter the crypto market directly.
According to Santiment, for example, the ETF products attracted the first serious wave of buyers, helping HYPE break above $50 for the first time in approximately eight months.
What accelerated the move
The second phase of the rally came slightly later.
On May 18 and 19, funding rate data from Coinglass showed a sharp spike in negative funding. This means a large number of traders began opening short positions expecting the price to fall.
The problem for those traders came when HYPE continued rising instead of declining.
That is when the so-called short squeeze began – a situation in which traders who opened short positions are forced to buy tokens in order to limit their losses. This automatically adds more buyers to an already rising market and further accelerates the move.
READ MORE: XRP Consolidates as XRPL RWA and ETF Market Expands
Simply put, the ETF news brought in the initial buyers, while the short squeeze accelerated the rally afterward.
The chart is starting to show signs of overheating
Despite the impressive growth, the technical picture is gradually starting to look overly aggressive.
The price is already trading significantly above the three major moving averages (MA):
- 50 MA around $42.15;
- 100 MA around $38.07;
- 200 MA around $34.14.
At the moment, HYPE is trading approximately:
- 34% above the 50 MA;
- 48% above the 100 MA;
- and around 65% above the 200 MA.
Such distances rarely persist for long without a period of consolidation or a more serious correction.
The RSI indicator is also already at 76.7 – a zone that is usually considered an overbought market.
This does not automatically mean the rally is over, but it significantly increases the probability of cooling off or range-bound trading in the short term.
Why open interest remains so important
One of the most interesting signals comes from open interest data, which shows the total size of active derivatives positions in the market.
For HYPE, it remains above $2.4 billion. This is an important detail because it shows that liquidated shorts have already been replaced by new traders opening fresh positions.
In other words, the market remains heavily loaded with active bets instead of gradually calming down after the sharp move.
That is exactly what increases the risk that the next move – whether upward or downward – could also be very aggressive.
The next few days could be decisive
The all-time high around $60 remains the next major level for HYPE.
If the price manages to close above this zone with stable volume over the next few days, ETF demand and the derivatives market could help form a new higher trading range.
However, if HYPE begins losing momentum below $60 while open interest gradually declines, then the market will likely enter a deeper consolidation toward the moving averages, which currently remain significantly below the current price.
The information presented in this article is intended for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as financial, investment, or trading advice. Coinspress.com does not promote or advocate for any particular investment strategy, asset, or cryptocurrency project. Cryptocurrency markets are highly volatile and unpredictable – always perform your own research and seek guidance from a qualified financial professional before making any investment decisions.
Kosta Gushterov
Reporter at CoinsPress
Kosta has reported on cryptocurrency markets and blockchain infrastructure since 2020, bringing over six years of hands-on experience in the crypto industry built through daily tracking of markets, trends, and emerging blockchain developments. Specializing in Bitcoin on-chain analysis, institutional ETF flows, and digital asset price action, his work has been cited by other news agencies and consistently covers market developments with a focus on data-driven reporting across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. Over the years, Kosta has contributed to multiple crypto media outlets in different regions, authoring over 6,000 articles across the sector. His reporting spans cryptocurrency markets and the broader fintech industry, tracking not only price action but also the technological and regulatory forces shaping the ecosystem. To support his analysis, Kosta actively leverages on-chain data and metrics from leading platforms such as Santiment, Glassnode, and CryptoQuant, enabling deeper, evidence-based market insights. He believes in the power of transparency and the data that underpins the blockchain ecosystem. His academic background in Marketing Management from Denmark further complements his analytical approach, adding a strong understanding of communication strategy and content positioning to his work.
