Hyperliquid Token Unstaking Rekindles Sell-Pressure Fears

Hyperliquid has attracted market attention recently after 1.2 million of its HYPE tokens were unstaked on December 28, according to reports. The issue lies in the fact that this happened only days ahead of the protocol’s first scheduled team distribution, which is set to begin on January 6, 2026.

The unstaking itself was expected, as reported by CCN, but the reaction to it was not. 

The report says that the unstaking comes after a publicly disclosed vesting schedule, but its timing is unfortunate, as it happened during a highly fragile and uncertain market, during which token prices have been declining. This, in turn, triggered debates over supply pressure, team incentives, and whether Hyperliquid’s revenue engine can keep absorbing new issuance without it reflecting negatively on its price.

The Unstaking Comes As Part of HYPE’s Schedule

The tokens that were unstaked on December 28 are a part of Hyperliquid’s team allocation, which represents around 23.8% of the total HYPE token supply. The allocation is vested evenly over 24 months starting in January 2026, and according to the process’ design, around 1.2 million tokens are to be released per month.

Hyperliquid said in its Discord server that all future team unlocks are scheduled to take place on the sixth day of each month, which is meant to create predictability and eliminate surprise releases that would cause panic or mistrust.

Even though the tokens were unstaked in December 2025, they will not be distributed until January 6, meaning that the team will get their funds exactly as scheduled. This also leaves a short window where traders get the chance to prepare for the impact the move will cause.

For the moment, the HYPE token’s price is fluctuating between $26 and $28, so the monthly unlock carries a market value of around $30m to $33m. The amount also represents around 0.3% of Hyperliquid’s total supply of 420 million tokens.

It is also worth noting that this is not the first time Hyperliquid’s token mechanics have resulted in a stress test for the network. Only a month earlier, in November 2025, there was a large unstaking event involving 2.6 million HYPE tokens, which included staking incentives. The move led to an estimated net sell pressure of around 900,000 tokens, after staking and treasury allocations.

At the time, the HYPE price saw a 17% drop, but the protocol responded with buybacks totaling around 1.9 million tokens, which allowed it to absorb a large part of the new supply. Beyond that, governance also approved a burn of 37 million HYPE from the Assistance Fund, which was seen as a way to counterbalance inflation and reinforce long-term tokenomics.