A16z-linked wallets acquire $90M of HYPE, rank 6th

Onchain analysts identified a cluster of wallets they link to a16z crypto that purchased roughly 2.11 million HYPE tokens for a reported cost basis of $90.87 million between April 14 and May 18. The cluster includes wallet address 0xb5E4 and related addresses tied together by funding history and transaction patterns.

The accumulation took place over 34 days. The largest disclosed single purchase occurred on May 18, when the wallet cluster acquired about 372,000 HYPE for $16.9 million within a three-hour window. The firm a16z crypto has not publicly confirmed ownership of the wallets; the linkage is based on chain-analysis methods that analysts say can have a small margin of error.

At market prices near $48 per HYPE, the combined holdings across the associated wallets are valued at about $418 million, implying an unrealized gain of about $79.3 million compared with the reported cost basis.

Approximately 1.3 million of the accumulated HYPE, worth roughly $51 million at current prices, are staked. Staked tokens contribute to Hyperliquid’s validator operations and earn protocol rewards rather than remaining liquid for immediate sale.

HYPE is the native token of Hyperliquid, a decentralized exchange that allows trading of leveraged perpetual contracts without routing trades through a centralized intermediary. The platform recorded $10.1 billion in open interest earlier this year.

Regulated products have begun to give U.S. investors formal exposure to HYPE. Bitwise launched a BHYP spot ETF that gathered about $4.31 million on its debut day, and 21Shares launched a THYP offering on Nasdaq.

Analysts monitoring onchain flows and staking activity say they will watch for further signs of long-term holding or token distribution if the wallet cluster is confirmed as belonging to a16z crypto.