Crypto trader sees Hyperliquid, AI tokens leading next altcoin rally

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.