Hyperliquid Airdrops NFTs as kHYPE Peg Wobble Draws Attention

Hyperliquid (HYPE) rolled out a new community-focused initiative on Sunday, a venture that could salvage sentiment as the network grapples with volatility across its ecosystem.

The decentralized exchange (DEX) confirmed the distribution of 4,600 Hypurr NFTs on the HyperEVM, even as its staked governance token, kHYPE, briefly lost its peg before recovering.

Hyperliquid Deploys Hypurr NFTs on HyperEVM: What Users Need to Know

The Hypurr NFT collection is a gesture of recognition for early adopters who supported Hyperliquid’s growth. According to the Hyper Foundation, the NFTs (non-fungible tokens) were automatically distributed and require no user action.

“Hypurr NFTs have been deployed on the HyperEVM…There are a total of 4,600 NFTs in the collection…To be clear: No action is required. You do not need to mint. The NFT collection has already been distributed,” read an excerpt in the announcement.  

Of the total supply, 4,313 NFTs went to Genesis Event participants, 144 to the Foundation, and 143 to contributors, including Hyperliquid Labs and NFT artists.

Each NFT reflects different aspects of community culture. The Foundation described them as capturing “moods, hobbies, tastes, and quirks” of the ecosystem.

THE HYPURR NFTS ARE OUT

— Luke Cannon (@lukecannon727) September 28, 2025

Reportedly, Jeff Yan, the CEO and co-founder of Hyperliquid, made 16 NFTs in the collection that were randomly distributed.

The collection was minted directly on the HyperEVM, a programmability layer launched in February 2025. It bridges smart contracts with Hyperliquid’s Layer-1 (L1) via HyperBFT consensus.

This architecture allows developers to access HyperCore liquidity while building applications such as lending markets, vault tokenization protocols, and liquid staking tokens.

The NFT release coincided with Hyperliquid enabling permissionless spot quote assets on mainnet. Stable asset deployers can now activate quote status under on-chain rules, broadening the platform’s flexibility.

Native Markets deployed USDH, Hyperliquid’s stablecoin, as the first permissionless quote asset, immediately enabling HYPE/USDH trading pairs. More assets are expected to follow through.

Permissionless spot quote assets are live on mainnet. Stable asset deployers can enable quote asset status, subject to the onchain requirements outlined in the Docs.Any quote asset can be specified as the quote asset in the first spot pair of an HIP-1 deployment. Additional…

— Hyperliquid (@HyperliquidX) September 28, 2025

The launch of USDH is key to strengthening Hyperliquid’s competitive position. BeInCrypto reported that USDH is backed by cash and US Treasuries. This aligns with a broader trend of exchanges issuing native stablecoins.

Despite this news, Hyperliquid’s HYPE token has only increased by a modest 0.8% in the last 24 hours. As of this writing, it was trading for $45.61 as of this writing.

Hyperliquid (HYPE) Price Performance. Source: BeInCrypto

Rival exchange Aster, supported by YZi Labs, has recently surpassed Hyperliquid in weekly trading volumes. This reflects the urgency of Hyperliquid’s expansion of its product suite.

HYPE Unlock and kHYPE Peg Strains Highlight Ongoing Stability Risks

According to blockchain detective ZachXBT, a bad actor has already stolen some of the Hypurr NFTs airdropped to compromised wallets.

“A threat actor stole 8 X Hypurr NFTs airdropped to compromised wallets on HyperEVM in the past hour profiting approximately $400,000,” wrote ZachXBT.

Analysts have also flagged risks to an upcoming $12 billion unlock of HYPE tokens. It could weigh on market sentiment for Hyperliquid’s governance token.

Starting November 29, 237.8M HYPE will begin vesting linearly over 24 months. At $50 per token, that’s $11.9B in team unlocks — nearly $500M notional hitting the market every month.That leaves a $410M/month supply overhang post buybacks. Has the market priced in the sheer scale…

— Maelstrom (@MaelstromFund) September 22, 2025

Still, questions about stability remain. Blockchain security firm PeckShield flagged that between September 24 and 27, kHYPE (Kinetiq Staked HYPE) slipped from its peg. The token bottomed out at 0.8802 against WHYPE.

#PeckShieldAlert Between Sept. 24–27, $kHYPE (@kinetiq_xyz Staked HYPE) briefly deviated from its peg, bottoming at 0.8802 against $WHYPE. The peg has since been restored. pic.twitter.com/XRa293gPvr

— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) September 28, 2025

The peg has since recovered, but the episode highlighted fragility within derivative markets tied to Hyperliquid’s token economy.

The combination of NFT distribution, new stablecoin infrastructure, and on-chain trading innovation signals that Hyperliquid is pushing to solidify its ecosystem. Yet, it faces mounting pressure from competition and internal market waves.

While Hypurr NFTs serve as a symbolic memento for early backers, the broader story is an execution risk. The successful rollout of permissionless quotes and stablecoin liquidity could strengthen Hyperliquid’s network effects.

Still, token volatility, exemplified by the kHYPE peg wobble, remains a critical challenge for long-term adoption.

Notwithstanding, Hyperliquid appears committed to doubling down on community recognition, programmability through HyperEVM, and market infrastructure.