Why is SOL losing despite Solana beating Hyperliquid on the revenue front?
The gap between app revenue and token value is becoming hard to ignore.
Solana [SOL] is generating more app revenue than Hyperliquid [HYPE], but does that translate to value for token holders?
While the former’s revenue stays with apps built on the network, the latter’s model is more directly linked to the HYPE token. Here’s why that matters…
Solana leads app revenue, but Hyperliquid has a clear token link!
At the time of writing, Solana was ahead in 24-hour app revenue, generating almost twice as much as Hyperliquid. Now, it may look like a clear win for Solana but for token holders, there’s more.
A large part of Solana’s app revenue goes to the applications built on the network, not directly to SOL holders. Hence, it’s clear that network activity isn’t translating into direct value for the SOL token.
Hyperliquid works differently though. Since much of its revenue comes from its own perpetuals exchange, it has a more direct connection to the HYPE token through buybacks and burns.
SOL leads Open Interest, but HYPE isn’t far behind
At press time, SOL had slightly higher aggregated Open Interest at around $2.16 billion, compared to HYPE’s $2.06 billion. Traders still seemed to have a little more capital around SOL contracts.
The gap didn’t appear to be too wide though. In fact, for a newer token like HYPE, staying close to SOL on Open Interest is actually notable.
However, SOL’s funding was mildly positive at 0.0004 too. HYPE’s funding was negative at -0.0009, implying that its positioning was less crowded on the long side.
Usage matters, but value capture matters more
On the price charts, HYPE has gone up nearly 64% in the past two months, while SOL went down by around 15%. That is a wide gap, especially when Solana is still leading in app revenue.
By extension, this means revenue alone may not be enough. Investors should also look at how that revenue supports the token.
For SOL, the network activity has not translated into stronger token performance. As far as HYPE is concerned, the market is rewarding a model which helps increase token value.
Final Summary
- Solana leads Hyperliquid in 24-hour app revenue, but that revenue isn’t coming back to SOL holders.
- Token value capture can matter more than network activity.
