Grayscale says the crypto market is increasingly rewarding tokens with real fundamentals, and financial protocols led by Hyperliquid (HYPE) are pulling far ahead of meme coins. The asset manager attributes the divide to a crypto bear market and rising institutional adoption. Both forces are separating revenue-generating projects from speculative tokens with little underlying value.
Why Fundamentals Matter
Grayscale built its case with its Crypto Sectors framework, a set of indexes developed with FTSE Russell. The system sorts more than 150 protocols by function and is reassessed each quarter. Grayscale’s recent research groups tokens by what they do, not the story around them.
Hyperliquid Leads the Way
Since the start of 2024, the Financials Crypto Sector has gained roughly 15%, while the Consumer and Culture Crypto Sector has fallen about 75%. That leaves financial tokens ahead of their consumer peers by about 90 percentage points. Hyperliquid’s HYPE token has climbed from an all-time low near $3.81 in late 2024 to a June 2026 peak of $76.70. It traded near $63 on Monday, up about 29% on the year, and ranks 10th by market value.
According to Grayscale, “Crypto markets are rewarding tokens with strong fundamentals. These include Hyperliquid and other leading financial applications of blockchains.” Tushar Jain, chief investment officer of Multicoin Capital, says leading protocols should be judged like companies. His firm holds HYPE and sees Hyperliquid leading in on-chain derivatives. Jain noted that “Solana is a business. Hyperliquid is a business. They are meant to go and generate cash flow, and that is the primary thing that gives those tokens value.”
Based on reporting from crypto.news.
