Hyperliquid (HYPER) is the indisputable winner this year among the top altcoins as the native asset of the top DEX for perpetual futures has booked a 22% gain since 2026 started.
HYPE has proven its resilience despite the significant turmoil that the crypto market as a whole has withstood lately. This showcases investors’ persistent interest in the project.
On-chain data gives us a hint at why HYPE might be performing so well, as transaction volumes within the platform have spiked to a new all-time high.
Last week, the Hyperliquid L1 processed 9.4 billion transactions, resulting in a 77% jump in network usage compared to the prior week.
The previous record was hit during the week ended on November 9, 2025, back when Hyperliquid processed 7.9 billion transactions.
This is a significant milestone for a platform that could someday compete directly with the world’s largest centralized exchanges like Binance.
According to data from CoinMarketCap, Hyperliquid continues to be the leading force in the decentralized perps segment with a market share of 31%, surpassing Aster by nearly three times now.
As market sentiment seems to be improving, the demand for cryptos could progressively recover. If this platform has been so popular during a bearish cycle, imagine the kinds of volumes it might start processing when things turn around.
Looking at the daily chart, the price hit a key resistance at $35 a month ago and recently found support at $26.
It seems a bit early to confirm that the price trend has reversed, which means that we could still see HYPE dropping back to $26 before resuming its uptrend.
However, the baseline scenario remains bullish in the long term as buying interest seems to persist despite these harsh market conditions.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) briefly surged to 60, and remains above the 14-day moving average. This means that momentum is still on the side of bulls, which increases the odds of a retest of the $35 area in the next few days.
Heading to the 4-hour chart, we have not yet received a sell signal. Instead, we got three consecutive buy signals since Hyperliquid bounced off the $26 support.
We still need to be on the lookout for a drop below $30, as that was a strong demand area the last time that the price fell. As long as that support holds, the rally will still be alive.
Meanwhile, if we get a “decisional” candle below $30, this would mean that selling pressure is accelerating, raising the odds of a sustained downtrend that pushes the token back to $26.
These “decisional” candles feature above-average trading volumes, a clear trend direction, and a specific candle pattern that indicates institutional or “whale” participation in the price action.
So, either we get a break above $33 and rally to $35, or break below $30 and drop to $26.
Alejandro Arrieche specializes in drafting news articles that incorporate technical analysis for traders and possesses in-depth knowledge of value investing and fundamental analysis.