Hyperliquid’s surge and renewed interest in AI-focused crypto projects are signaling a broader return of risk appetite in altcoins, says Michael van de Poppe.
May 23, 2026, 2:19 p.m. 2 min read
Latest developments: Hyperliquid is outperforming much of the crypto market as traders rotate back into higher-risk assets.
- Hyperliquid’s HYPE token hit a new all-time high after two HYPE ETFs launched in the U.S.
- Van de Poppe said European traders have increasingly moved to Hyperliquid because perpetual futures trading remains difficult to access on many regulated venues in Europe.
- He argued Hyperliquid’s push into tokenized stocks, commodities and pre-IPO assets is accelerating broader tokenization trends across crypto markets.
- Van de Poppe said HYPE could rise to $100 or more if crypto market appetite continues to strengthen.
- Van de Poppe joined Jennifer Sanasie on CoinDesk’s Markets Outlook.
What this means: Van de Poppe sees Hyperliquid as a short-term winner but Solana as the stronger long-term conviction bet.
- He said liquidity in crypto markets is concentrating around a small group of protocols generating strong user growth and revenue.
- Van de Poppe said Hyperliquid currently benefits from that concentration but warned competitors will eventually enter the market and pressure its dominance.
- He described Solana as successfully transitioning from a “degen” ecosystem into a more institutional blockchain ecosystem.
- Van de Poppe said Solana’s long-term positioning as infrastructure makes it more attractive than Hyperliquid over a multi-year horizon.
The AI trade: AI-linked crypto projects remain deeply undervalued relative to traditional AI companies, van de Poppe said.
- He pointed to NEAR and Bittensor as two of the strongest infrastructure plays tied to AI adoption in crypto.
- Van de Poppe argued valuations for private and public AI companies have become overheated, while crypto AI tokens have fallen sharply despite continued ecosystem growth.
- He said NEAR’s projected revenue growth from roughly $10 million in 2025 to as much as $100 million this year supports a significantly higher valuation.
- Van de Poppe said Bittensor’s ecosystem expansion and subnet structure could justify prices between $1,000 and $2,000 if adoption continues.
The privacy debate: Privacy remains one of crypto’s biggest long-term themes, but fully anonymous systems face major regulatory risks.
- Van de Poppe said institutional and retail users both want more transactional privacy on blockchains.
- He argued governments are unlikely to support fully anonymous privacy coins over the long term because regulators want visibility into transactions.
- Van de Poppe said funds in Europe already face restrictions interacting with certain privacy-focused assets.
- He pointed to zero-knowledge proof systems and permissioned privacy models as more sustainable paths forward for institutional adoption.
Macro outlook: Van de Poppe said bond yields and central bank policy remain the biggest near-term macro drivers for crypto.
- He said Japanese bond yields are a key market signal and could heavily influence broader risk appetite.
- Falling yields could support equities and crypto markets, while persistent inflation could create headwinds.
- Van de Poppe said he does not expect aggressive rate cuts or renewed monetary easing from the Federal Reserve in the near term.
- He warned additional rate hikes would likely pressure crypto and broader risk assets.
AI Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.
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