Morning Minute: Hyperliquid’s Explosive Growth Rivals Nasdaq’s Scale!

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GM!

Today’s top news:

• Major cryptocurrencies gain 1-2%; Bitcoin at $73.3k
• HYPE jumps 10% after ICE founder labels it “Bigger than Nasdaq”
• JPMorgan reports the debasement trade is fading, pushing Bitcoin and gold down
• Standard Chartered likens Ethereum to Amazon in 2001, projects a $40,000 price target
• Anthropic secures $6.5B in funding at a $96.5B valuation, launches Claude Opus 4.8 the same day

💡The Man Who Built the NYSE Calls Hyperliquid “Bigger Than Nasdaq”

Jeff Sprecher, founder of Intercontinental Exchange and the visionary behind the modern NYSE, spoke at Bernstein’s 42nd Annual Strategic Decisions Conference this week and made a statement that the traditional finance world will find hard to overlook: Hyperliquid surpasses Nasdaq in trading volume, was developed by just 11 people, and demands attention.

“You look at it and think, wow, that’s really something.” Regarding the team: “The individuals who created that exchange are incredibly brilliant… I commend them for their achievement.” On whether established players can afford to ignore it: “I don’t think you can overlook it.”

Hyperliquid has drawn in early adopters and traders who would typically operate within ICE and Nasdaq’s conventional markets, pulling them onto a blockchain-based platform. In 2024, the weekend oil trading scenario perfectly highlighted what’s at stake. Sprecher pointed out that Hyperliquid offers crude oil perpetual contracts during weekends when ICE’s markets are closed, and notably, the most impactful price-moving events in the Iran conflict have unfolded on weekends.

On institutional clients: “While the majority of our institutional clients aren’t actively trading on blockchain… they’re all keeping a close eye, observing the price discovery process. Whether they acknowledge it or not, it’s becoming part of the broader conversation.” On the SpaceX listing as a potential turning point: “I believe regulators and market participants will ultimately decide whether it was a minor event or a major one.” On the road ahead: “We’ll simply need to adapt to the dynamic of retail and professional trading happening around the clock, 24/7, 365 days a year.”

High praise from the pinnacle of traditional finance. The market responded positively as well, with HYPE surging 10% overnight to $62.50.

📉 JPMorgan Says The Debasement Trade Is Unwinding

JPMorgan analysts released a research note on Thursday contending that the “debasement trade” is losing steam. For those who aren’t familiar, the debasement trade strategy involved purchasing Bitcoin and gold as protection against inflation, geopolitical turmoil, and currency depreciation.

Currently, we’re seeing concurrent outflows from both Bitcoin and gold ETFs over the past two weeks, along with declining institutional positions in CME futures for both assets. JPMorgan noted that the recent downturn may signal rising expectations that U.S.-Iran tensions could de-escalate, indicating that investors are likely positioning themselves in anticipation of a potential diplomatic resolution.

Essentially, they’re suggesting that geopolitical tensions are subsiding and therefore the need for a hedge is diminishing. The issue with that perspective, at least from a Bitcoin holder’s viewpoint, is that Bitcoin didn’t perform particularly well as a debasement hedge throughout the Iran conflict. Stocks broadly outperformed, and gold fared better as well.

The true test of the debasement thesis will unfold in the years ahead as inflation continues to affect the U.S. and global economy—the core driver of the thesis, far more significant than geopolitical hedging. Inflation isn’t going away anytime soon. Time will tell whether Bitcoin sticks around.

🤯 Standard Chartered Calls ETH Amazon in 2001, Sets $40,000 Target

Standard Chartered analyst Geoffrey Kendrick published a note arguing that Ethereum’s current price fails to reflect the improving metrics of its network, directly comparing ETH’s present circumstances to Amazon’s position following the dot-com bubble burst.

Jeff Bezos once offered a memorable line during that era: “A stock is not the same as the company behind it” — and vice versa. Since hitting rock bottom after the dot-com bust, Amazon’s shares have skyrocketed roughly 1,000 times when accounting for stock splits. Kendrick draws a parallel, suggesting that ETH faces a similar disconnect right now.

Standard Chartered has held firm on its year-end prediction of $4,000 for Ethereum and $40,000 by decade’s end. Their core upbeat case rests on Ethereum’s stronghold in DeFi and stablecoins: more than half of all stablecoins operate on Ethereum, they make up around a third of all Ethereum transactions so far in 2026, and represent 60% of the network’s gross total value locked. The bank projects the stablecoin market capitalization will multiply sevenfold to $2 trillion by 2028, while real-world assets will grow fiftyfold to the same figure. Since Ethereum stands to gain the most from this expansion, its transaction volume and TVL should reach fresh peaks, creating tailwinds for higher ETH prices.

On the flip side, Polymarket traders assign just a 15% probability to ETH reaching $4,000 by year-end 2026. That means if Standard Chartered turns out to be right, there’s a potential 6x return waiting on the table.

💰 Anthropic Raises $65 Billion At $965B

Anthropic has secured $65 billion through a Series H funding round, reaching a post-money valuation of $965 billion — a first-time milestone as Silicon Valley’s highest-valued AI company. Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, Greenoaks, and Sequoia Capital spearheaded the round, with each committing over $2 billion.

This latest round has vaulted Anthropic more than twice its valuation from February, leaping from $380 billion to $965 billion.

Anthropic’s revenue surge has been largely fueled by its AI coding tool, Claude Code. The company has crossed $47 billion in annualized revenue, climbing from a $30 billion run rate earlier this year and just $10 billion in annual revenue the prior year. It also showcased key infrastructure partnerships with Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix, along with new computing capacity deals with Amazon, Google, Broadcom, and SpaceX. On the same day, Anthropic unveiled Claude Opus 4.8.

This funding could mark the AI company’s final private raise prior to going public. Now the big question is which of these AI heavyweights — Anthropic or OpenAI — will make their stock market debut first. Better have your dry powder ready.

🌎 Macro Crypto and Markets

• Major crypto assets are trading modestly higher with HYPE in the lead; BTC +0.1% at $73.3k; ETH +1% at $2,000; SOL +1% at $82; HYPE +9% at $62.16
• XLM (+14%), INJ (+14%) and DEXE (+12%) topped the gainers list
• Oil down 4% at $87; Gold up 1% at $4,570
• Equity futures opened slightly positive with the Nasdaq gaining 0.1%
• The CEO of ICE (parent of the NYSE) described Hyperliquid as “outpacing Nasdaq” and shared how institutional clients are monitoring Hyperliquid price movements over weekends
• FalconX submitted a confidential S-1 filing to the SEC on Thursday and engaged bankers for a U.S. IPO — positioning itself among a small group of crypto firms still pursuing listings despite delays from Grayscale, Kraken, Ledger, and ConsenSys; FalconX serves as a prime brokerage for institutional crypto traders with over $1.5 trillion in cumulative transaction volume; the company last raised funding at a $4 billion valuation in 2022 and has been in the black since 2024
• At the same time, Grayscale hit the pause button on its IPO preparations Thursday and is unlikely to resume before the fourth quarter at the earliest
• Tether’s Argentine peso-pegged stablecoin USAT saw its circulating supply explode by more than 500% within a brief span, underscoring the growing traction of dollar-pegged alternatives in Argentina’s inflation-stricken economy

Corporate Treasuries & ETFs

Meme Coin Tracker

• The top meme coins traded in the green; DOGE +1%, SHIB +2%, PEPE +1%, PENGU -2%, TRUMP +2%, BONK +1%, SPX -2%, FARTCOIN +1%
• Squire (+50%), Mumu (+38%) and Cards (+14%) were the biggest movers on Solana
• Base chain movers included Deus (+28%), Degen (+24%) and Nock (+17%)

📈 Myriad Market of the Day

💰 Tracking Tokens, Airdrops & Protocols

• Hyperliquid’s SpaceX pre-IPO perpetual contract took a nosedive on Thursday, shedding 45% in just half an hour — tumbling from $2,277 down to $1,254 at its lowest point before staging a partial comeback. The crash erased $1.51 million and forced liquidations for scores of retail traders.
• Myriad unveiled its World Cup prediction market, sweetened the deal with a $100,000 prize pool for standout traders, market makers, and other top performers.
• AI agents are evolving from reactive helpers to proactive assistants — they’re picking up on user habits to serve up information before you even think to ask. Think booking flights ahead of time, pulling up account records before a client call, or drafting competitive analyses ahead of recurring meetings.
• Apple reportedly intends to weave ChatGPT deeply into Siri as part of iOS 27, according to leaked internal memos that surfaced ahead of WWDC 2026.
• Sui Network experienced yet another mainnet halt on Thursday, marking its third major outage within the past 18 months.

🚚 What’s the Latest in NFTs?

• NFT blue-chips continued bleeding red — CryptoPunks slipped to 32 ETH, Bored Ape Yacht Club dipped 4% to 8.23 ETH, and Pudgies edged down 1% to 4.27 ETH. On the brighter side, Hypurr climbed 5% to 324 HYPE.
• Nonplayable Characters (+234%) and Shellmates (+55%) dominated the top gainers list, posting eye-popping percentage bumps.
• Yuga Labs is folding ApeCoin’s operations directly into its own structure, dissolving the standalone ApeCo (formerly Ape Foundation) entity. ApeCo’s leader Cam is stepping down; ApeChain’s technology and business development teams will now report straight to Yuga, and several ApeCo employees are exiting as part of the reorganization. The transition wraps up on June 5.
• Bored Apes teamed up with Scandinavian Tobacco Group to launch a collector’s edition cigar box, drawing design inspiration from the Club’s story and evolution.