PANews reported on January 8 that according to Cointelegraph, asset management company VanEck pointed out in a research report on January 6 that the Layer-1 blockchain network Hyperliquid needs to build a strong developer community to maintain the market value of its native token HYPE of about US$25 billion. Since launching the HYPE token through airdrops in November 2023, Hyperliquid has become one of the most valuable blockchains, but its emerging smart contract platform "has not yet attracted enough developer communities." VanEck warned that if community growth expectations cannot be met, HYPE holders may face a "prisoner's dilemma."

VanEck pointed out that Hyperliquid's growth is due to its commitment to becoming a general-purpose blockchain that not only supports perpetual futures DEX, but will also expand to other applications. However, DEX generally lacks long-term competitive barriers because it is based on open source code and its functions are easy to copy. In 2025, Hyperliquid plans to launch the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) smart contract platform, which VanEck believes is essential to diversifying Layer 1's revenue base and supporting HYPE's high valuation.