Bitcoin failed to hold above $80,000 in early September, but CoinMarketCap Head of Research Alice Liu says she thinks the bear-market bottom may have already happened in June. Hyperliquid's HYPE token keeps climbing on the back of over $400 million in token buybacks, though Liu says Binance's expansion into tokenized-asset perpetuals could squeeze the revenue that funds them.
Bitcoin tapped $81,600 at the start of September, a roughly 28% rally since mid-August. That move pushed the CoinMarketCap Crypto Fear and Greed Index back into Greed after months of Fear readings. Alice Liu tells Cointelegraph on Trade Secrets: "I think we might have already touched the bottom," pointing to Bitcoin's drop to about $59,000 in June, roughly 53% below its October all-time high of $126,100.
Buybacks drive HYPE's climb
Liu points to Hyperliquid's buyback program as the main driver behind HYPE's recent all-time high of $86. The project has spent more than $400 million on buybacks, using platform revenue to purchase its own token on the open market. Liu adds that only a small share of HYPE's supply has unlocked so far, with further unlocks arriving gradually. However, she says the price move depends on the network generating enough activity to keep funding those buybacks going forward.
Binance chips into Hyperliquid's RWA lead
Liu says trading in tokenized stocks, ETFs, and index perpetuals shifted from Hyperliquid to Binance after Binance launched its own real-world-asset perpetual futures. Binance now holds about 50% of that market's share, though Hyperliquid still leads among decentralized exchanges, Liu says. Hyperliquid's token is up 47.5% over the past 30 days, according to CoinMarketCap data she cites.
Liu turns cautious on AI tokens
Liu remains bullish on Hyperliquid but takes a more cautious view of AI tokens that lack real utility, the group she says surged in popularity in late 2023. She says purely conceptual, meme-ified AI tokens with no infrastructure behind them could potentially go to zero. Solid AI infrastructure projects exist too, Liu says, but even those are likely to trade at a price discount as they compete against AI stocks and major tech companies.
On Bitcoin's longer-term path, Liu takes a more conservative stance than Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood, who have each predicted Bitcoin will reach $1 million by 2030. Liu instead points to $500,000 by 2030, though she doesn't rule out the higher figure entirely.
Source: Cointelegraph
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