HYPE’s Wild Ride: Short Sellers Cry, ETFs Laugh, and Bitcoin Goes “Meh”

While the rest of the crypto world was busy having a meltdown (looking at you, Bitcoin, sulking below $77k), HYPE decided it was time to shine, rebounding like a Bridget Jones after a bad date-up 5% and briefly hitting its peak of $47. Go on, girl!

HYPE Bounces Back While Crypto Throws a Tantrum

Just days after taking a nosedive (thanks, ICE and CME, for being the ultimate party poopers), HYPE decided to flip the script and jump 5% on Monday. Meanwhile, the crypto market was having a full-blown existential crisis, with Bitcoin tumbling below $77k for the first time in ages. Drama, darling, drama!

At midnight, HYPE wasn’t just matching its May 15 peak of $47-it was briefly living its best life above it. Sure, it retreated to $45.50 by 5:11 a.m. EDT (because, let’s face it, no one can keep up that energy), but its market cap still soared to $10.85 billion. That’s a cool $1 billion increase from May 16. Someone get this token a glass of champagne!

In the derivatives market, HYPE’s surge triggered a $7.1 million liquidation party, with shorts making up 75% of the guest list. Ouch. According to Coinglass, 2,279 traders got the boot, and one unlucky soul lost $877,299. That’s more painful than Mark Darcy’s sweater collection.

So, what’s behind this rebound? Well, while ICE and CME were busy being the fun police, Bitwise launched its HYPE ETF (BHYP) on May 15, complete with in-house staking. On its debut, it raked in $4.31 million in trading volume-the biggest opening day for a U.S. spot altcoin ETF in 2026. Move over, Bitcoin, there’s a new darling in town!

Meanwhile, most altcoins were having a worse day than Bridget Jones in a room full of exes. BCH dropped 12%, DOGE retreated 6% to $0.104, and the rest lost between 2% and 4%. The aggregate market cap of altcoins? Hovering around $1 trillion. Someone call the therapist.

In the end, the crypto market’s total cap dropped from $2.7 trillion to $2.65 trillion. But HYPE? It’s out here living its best life, proving that sometimes, even in chaos, there’s a token that says, “I’m fine, thanks for asking.”

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2026-05-18 13:30