Hyperliquid News: HIP-4 Testnet Live, HYPE Buyback Beats Selling
Lakshya Divekar
Hyperliquid News: HIP-4 Testnet Goes Live as HYPE Buyback
Two things happened on Hyperliquid within days of each other, and together they tell a pretty complete story about where the exchange stands right now.
For anyone following crypto news today, these updates highlight both the platform's product expansion and its evolving token dynamics.
First, the platform pushed out an early version of permissionless deployment for its HIP-4 markets on testnet.
Second, fresh on-chain tracking shows exactly how the team's tokens are being unlocked and sold and how the assistance fund is responding to it. Here's a look at both.
HIP-4 Permissionless Deployment Lands on Testnet
According to Hyperliquid and a Wu Blockchain report, the initial version of permissionless deployment for HIP-4 is now live on testnet, allowing developers to deploy prediction and other outcome markets.
That's a meaningful shift for the exchange, since it changes who's actually allowed to build these markets. HIP-4 itself is Hyperliquid's outcome market standard.
It relies on fully collateralized contracts that settle within a fixed range, and it's meant for prediction markets and similar option-style products.
As highlighted by Wu Blockchain on X, the first version of Hyperliquid's permissionless HIP-4 deployment is now live on testnet for developers.
Until now, only validators could deploy this kind of market. With the testnet update, outside developers get a way in too, though still through validator-approved templates rather than a completely open door.
It's a controlled expansion rather than a free-for-all, which fits with how the exchange has handled other upgrades.
Here's what's been confirmed so far:
Detail | Information |
Stage | Testnet (mainnet expected to follow) |
Stake required | 500,000, locked for several months |
Risk | Stake can be slashed if a market is poorly defined or settled incorrectly |
Fee share | Deployers can earn up to 50% of trading fees |
Initial capacity | 100 outcomes per deployer |
The team says more features are coming gradually, including configurable fees and additional testnet templates.
No mainnet date has been announced yet for the permissionless system, so this is still very much an early-stage rollout worth keeping an eye on.
As per Wu Blockchain's X update, Hyperliquid will gradually introduce additional features, including configurable fees and more testnet market templates, as the HIP-4 rollout continues. 
What's Happening With HYPE Team Tokens
As per Wu Blockchain's X update, Hyperliquid's assistance fund has significantly outpaced team token selling through ongoing buybacks since December 2025. 
4.93 million HYPE allocated to team members so far, worth roughly $270M at current prices, or about 0.493% of total supply.
1.19 million HYPE sold directly on the open market, bringing in $32.5M.
3.14 million HYPE moved to OTC platforms, valued at around $132M at the time of transfer.
Roughly 4.33 million HYPE sold in total so far, worth close to $165M .
An average of about 540,000 HYPE sold per month, worth around $20.6M.
That's a fair amount of selling. But it's not the whole picture. On the other side of the ledger, the assistance fund has been repurchasing tokens at an even faster clip.
Since December 2025, it has bought back about 9.8 million HYPE, spending close to $364 million in the process. Monthly, that works out to roughly 1.23 million HYPE repurchased, worth about $46 million.
That's more than double what current and former team members have been selling each month.
In other words, buybacks are currently outpacing insider selling by a wide margin, and that has real implications for circulating supply.
Anyone watching the price action might want to keep this gap in mind, since it's one of the more telling numbers in the whole picture.
Put together, these two developments capture where Hyperliquid is right now: a product side that's slowly opening up who can build outcome markets and a token side where buyback activity is currently running well ahead of team selling.
Expect more updates as HIP-4 rolls forward, particularly around fee configuration, additional templates, and eventual mainnet timing, as Hyperliquid remains one of the projects to watch in crypto news.
Disclaimer: This article is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered financial or investment advice. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions.
