Bitcoinist
January 6, 2026 6:00 PM UTC

Crypto Founder Predicts This Altcoin Sweetheart Will Overtake Solana, But How Far Will It Go?

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has predicted that the altcoin Hyperliquid will overtake Solana before this market cycle ends. The crypto founder has also reiterated his $150 price target for the HYPE token, predicting it will be reached by the start of the second half of the year. Arthur Hayes Predicts Hyperliquid Will Overtake Solana In Market Cap In an X post , Hayes opined that Hyperliquid should, at a minimum, overtake Solana before this “bull run” is over. The crypto founder also remarked that his portfolio was in a bull market, even as another X user stated that the crypto market was in a bear market . It is worth noting that the BitMEX co-founder has recently revealed exposure to HYPE, ZEC, and NEAR, which are among the altcoins that have recorded significant gains over the past few weeks. Meanwhile, Hayes’s prediction that Hyperliquid will overtake Solana came while the altcoin was still trading below the psychological $70 price level and at a $15 billion market cap. Since then, HYPE has rallied to a new all-time high (ATH) above $73, boasting a market cap of $18 billion and overtaking Dogecoin to become the 9th largest crypto by market cap. Hyperliquid potentially overtaking Solana means the altcoin’s market cap could still rise above $48 billion, making it the 7th-largest crypto by market cap. It also means HYPE’s price could rise above $100, a development the crypto founder is confident will occur. Hayes recently reiterated that the altcoin will still rally to $150. Hayes has before now predicted that HYPE will rally to $150 by August this year. He predicted that this would happen as the Hyperliquid DEX continues to gain more traction, which will, in turn, boost fees earned on the platform and the token buybacks. It is worth noting that the DEX currently uses up to 99% of fees earned to buy and burn HYPE tokens. Arthur Hayes Challenges Kyle Samani In another X post , Hayes challenged Solana advocate Kyle Samani to a “charitable bet.” He told him that he will put $100,000 on the line to a charity of Samani’s choice that HYPE outperforms any other current top crypto by market cap from now until year-end. The crypto founder then asked Samani to pick a coin that he thinks would outperform HYPE. Hyperliquid is currently the best-performing crypto among the top 10 cryptos by market cap with a year-to-date (YTD) gain of 188%. Justin Sun’s Tron is the only other crypto in the rankings that is green this year, with a YTD gain of 23%. At the time of writing, the Hyperliquid price is trading at around $73, up over 5% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.