Hyperliquid Cuts $HYPE Team Unlocks 90% in February 2026

Background on Hyperliquid and the $HYPE Token

Hyperliquid has rapidly become the dominant on-chain perpetual futures venue, rising as a serious rival to centralized exchanges by offering high-leverage trading with fast execution and deep liquidity. The protocol’s expansion into more markets and continuous feature upgrades helped push it into the top tier of DeFi venues through 2025.

The $HYPE token plays the core role in Hyperliquid’s ecosystem as the governance and value-accrual asset tied to broader platform growth, adoption, and long-term participation incentives. Since launch, observers have closely monitored $HYPE tokenomics, especially the vesting schedule and expected contributor unlocks, which could create long-term sell pressure if supply expands too quickly.

This is why the news that Hyperliquid Cuts $HYPE Team Unlocks has landed as a major market event because it directly impacts the future supply curve.

Hyperliquid Cuts $HYPE Team Unlocks and Changes the Supply Narrative

According to the Discord communication, February’s team unlock allocation was reduced to 140,000 HYPE, down from 1.2 million HYPE in January. That represents a sharp 90% cut, instantly reducing short-term dilution and limiting the “monthly unlock overhang” that often caps upside rallies.

Market reaction was swift: the unlock reduction became a confidence boost for holders, reinforcing the view that Hyperliquid is attempting to align incentives with token stability rather than constant distribution.

This is also why the phrase Hyperliquid Cuts $HYPE Team Unlocks quickly began trending across CT and Discord communities, unlock reductions tend to hit harder than most bullish narratives because they alter supply, not sentiment.

Why Hyperliquid’s Unlock Cut Is Bullish for $HYPE Holders

The immediate bullish framing comes from simple mechanics: fewer unlocked tokens means less potential sell pressure and lower circulating expansion during key liquidity windows.

For DeFi tokens, particularly perp DEX tokens, traders often price unlock cycles as scheduled volatility events. When those unlocks are cut materially, it:

1. reduces forced supply hitting the market,
2. supports price discovery during demand spikes, and
3. strengthens the perception that contributors are aligned with long-term value.

In other words, the decision signals that the team is not rushing to extract liquidity from the market something crypto communities increasingly reward after years of “token unlock dumps” across other ecosystems.