Kyle Samani Criticizes Hyperliquid in Explosive Post-Departure Market Commentary
Kyle Samani, the lately departed co-founder of Multicoin Capital, has launched a blistering assault on the high-flying Hyperliquid decentralized exchange (DEX), labeling it a systemic threat regardless of his former agency’s reported aggressive accumulation of its underlying HYPE token.
Key Takeaways:
- Kyle Samani publicly slammed Hyperliquid’s closed-source mannequin days after leaving Multicoin Capital.
- On-chain analysts report Multicoin-linked wallets holding over $40 million in HYPE tokens.
- Hyperliquid lately surpassed Coinbase in quantity following its HIP-4 prediction market launch.
Why is Samani Targeting Hyperliquid Now?
Samani stepped down from Multicoin Capital on February 5, 2026, ending a decade-long tenure.
Just three days later, on February 8, he broke his silence to focus on Hyperliquid, the largest DEX in the world. His acerbic criticism highlights a deep ideological rift in the business, with Kyle championing permissionless open-source protocols, which he claims Hyperliquid will not be.
Hyper liquid is in most respects every thing incorrect with crypto
Founder actually fled his dwelling nation to construct
Openly facilitates crime and terror
Closed supply
Permissioned— Kyle Samani (@KyleSamani) February 8, 2026
Samani additionally implies prison or untoward issues concerning the trade, facilitating “crime and terror”, though he mistakenly calls the Bay Area-born Hyperliquid founder Jeff Wan an immigrant.
This conflict of philosophies comes at a time when capital flows are ignoring ideology; investors pour $258 million into crypto startups no matter technical decentralization, chasing the huge returns that high-performance apps are at present delivering.
With a dizzying plethora of options that give it among the utility of a CEX, Hyperliquid has surged in latest months by prioritizing vertical integration and efficiency over open-source transparency.
“Walled Garden” or Market Leader?
Samani didn’t maintain again, asserting that Hyperliquid “is in most respects every thing incorrect with crypto.”
His critique particularly targets the undertaking’s closed-source structure and permissioned validator set.
He argues this “walled backyard” strategy, mixed with the founder’s option to arrange store in the non-extradition jurisdiction of Singapore, creates unacceptable seizure dangers.
Samani additionally alleged that the platform’s opacity acts as a protect for potential illicit monetary exercise.
This rhetoric faucets into rising fears relating to unchecked crypto platforms, a story underscored lately when two high schoolers have been charged in an Arizona dwelling invasion targeting $66m in crypto, reminding the market of the darker facet of unparalleled anonymity.
Despite Samani’s reservations, the market continues voting with its pockets. Hyperliquid lately overtook Coinbase in buying and selling quantity, doubling the centralized trade’s figures in early 2026.
BREAKING: Hyperliquid is quietly outgrowing Coinbase.
Trading Volume (Notional):
• Coinbase: $1.4T
• Hyperliquid: $2.6TThat’s almost 2x Coinbase’s quantity… from an onchain trade. And the market is noticing.
YTD Price Performance:
• Hyperliquid: +31.7%
• Coinbase:… https://t.co/bqWcubvu7O pic.twitter.com/49IWNadjy4— Artemis (@artemis) February 9, 2026
With a market cap above $7 billion, the HYPE token stays one of many 20 largest cryptocurrencies and among the many top cryptos to diversify with. This calls to thoughts how the Post-Quantum QONE token sold out in 24 hours, proving that merchants worth cutting-edge tech narratives above the social media feuds.
The $40 Million Contradiction
The timing of those feedback has additionally fueled hypothesis regarding inner disagreements at Multicoin.
A pockets broadly believed to be linked to Multicoin was lately noticed accumulating over $40 million in HYPE tokens. This creates a stark contradiction: the agency Samani based is betting closely on the very asset he claims might smash the business.
A pockets I believe to be @multicoin purchased 1.355M HYPE ($40.8M) final week.https://t.co/MrJH7J1oeA
— MLM (@mlmabc) January 31, 2026
Samani’s response to the agency’s buying conduct was blunt: “I don’t work at multicoin.” Since leaving, he has acknowledged his intention to department into different applied sciences, however introduced he’ll stay chair of Forward Industries, a Solana treasury.
Samani’s conflict with Hyperliquid underscores the deep divisions nonetheless rife in crypto because the business awaits regulation by US lawmakers.
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