Michael Saylor’s controversial bitcoin treasury strategy is no longer fringe — it’s being mimicked across corporate America. According to a recent Wall Street Journal report, companies have raised more than $85 billion in 2025 to buy cryptocurrencies for their corporate treasuries — more than double the amount raised in U.S. IPOs this year.
Unlike in 2020, when MicroStrategy’s Saylor stood alone in selling shares to buy bitcoin, a new wave of companies — from toy manufacturers to semiconductor firms — is executing similar strategies with institutional backing. Capital Group, Galaxy Digital, and D1 Capital are among the firms pouring cash into companies that raise funds to accumulate digital assets directly. The surge has extended beyond bitcoin to include lesser-known tokens, often with higher risk-reward profiles.
One of the most prominent examples is Hyperliquid Strategies Inc. (HSI), a public crypto treasury company being formed to hold large reserves of HYPE, the native token of the Hyperliquid blockchain.
How HSI Was Created: Atlas and Sonnet Join Forces
The HSI initiative was first disclosed on July 14, when Sonnet BioTherapeutics (SONN) announced a reverse merger with Rorschach I LLC, a newly formed vehicle backed by Atlas Merchant Capital, Paradigm, and other high-profile crypto investors. The deal will transform Sonnet into a platform for executing a corporate crypto treasury strategy focused not on bitcoin or ether — but on HYPE, the native token of the Hyperliquid blockchain.
Upon closing, the combined entity will be renamed Hyperliquid Strategies Inc. (HSI) and continue trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market. HSI will initially hold 12.6 million HYPE tokens, valued at $583 million at the time of signing, and will deploy at least $305 million more to acquire additional HYPE on the open market. If fully executed, this will create one of the largest institutional reserves of a single altcoin ever disclosed.
According to Atlas CEO Bob Diamond, a former CEO of Barclays, who will chair the new company, the opportunity is not just financial — it's strategic. In his words, “We think HYPE is pretty special.” Diamond said the team believes Hyperliquid offers a differentiated offering in the digital asset space, and that HSI is uniquely positioned to take advantage of it because of its mix of crypto-native and traditional financial leadership.
Matt Huang, co-founder of Paradigm, said institutional demand for Hyperliquid has been rising, but noted that direct access to the HYPE token is still limited in the U.S.
While Sonnet will become a wholly owned subsidiary of HSI and continue to manage its biotech programs, the company plans to divest non-core assets. Existing investors will receive contingent value rights (CVRs) tied to Sonnet’s therapeutic portfolio.
The board of HSI will include Bob Diamond and Eric Rosengren, the former president of the Boston Federal Reserve, alongside incoming financial leadership. The deal is backed by Galaxy Digital, Pantera Capital, D1 Capital, Republic Digital and 683 Capital, and is expected to close in the second half of 2025.
What Is Hyperliquid, and How Does the HYPE Token Work?
Hyperliquid is the name of a decentralized exchange (DEX) and a high-performance layer-1 blockchain launched in 2023. It was designed to offer the speed and trading experience of centralized exchanges with the transparency and permissionless access of decentralized finance (DeFi).
Its infrastructure includes two core layers:
- HyperCore, which powers high-speed spot and perpetual futures trading with on-chain order books —supporting over 200,000 orders per second.
- HyperEVM, a general-purpose smart contract layer compatible with Ethereum, enabling developers to build DeFi applications that can interact with HyperCore’s liquidity.
HYPE is the native token of the Hyperliquid ecosystem. It is used for staking, governance, trading incentives and as the core asset for value capture across the network. As of the time of writing, HYPE is the fifteenth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and Hyperliquid has processed over $1 trillion in cumulative trading volume.
Analyst Commentary: Strong Fundamentals, Diverging Views
The surge in institutional attention hasn’t settled the debate around HYPE’s valuation — despite its strong rally earlier this quarter from a low of $37.41 to nearly $50 (reached on July 14).
At the time of writing, according to CoinDesk Data, HYPE is trading at $42.77, down 3.69% in the past 24-hour period.
Crypto analyst “McKenna” suggested on Saturday that HYPE may still be undervalued based on revenue metrics. He estimated that if the token were trading at the same valuation multiple (known as SWPE, or sales-weighted price-to-earnings) it reached during its last market peak, its current 30-day average revenue of $3.2 million would imply a fair price of $77. His analysis uses a ratio comparing market cap to trailing platform revenue — a common method in both equity and token analysis.
By contrast, “Altcoin Sherpa” signaled caution earlier today. While he praised HYPE’s fundamentals — including high user activity, reliable tokenomics and strong team execution — he stated that the move from $9 to over $40 likely exhausted the short-term upside. He said he was holding a small staking position for long-term exposure but was not actively accumulating more at current prices. He suggested he’d wait for a more substantial pullback before increasing his allocation.
The two views illustrate a key tension: even with high revenues and institutional backing, tokens like HYPE can become overextended in the short run — especially when driven by narrative momentum and speculative capital.
Institutional Altcoin Bets Are Just Getting Started
Whether HYPE continues climbing or cools from here, the creation of Hyperliquid Strategies Inc (HSI) marks a turning point in how corporate crypto treasury strategies are being executed. Unlike earlier models that focused on bitcoin as a digital reserve asset, HSI is being built around a single altcoin that didn’t exist a year ago. With more than $888 million in combined token and cash commitments, the structure resembles a thematic crypto fund — but with a public listing and institutional leadership.
If this approach proves successful, more firms may follow — raising capital not just to hold crypto, but to take concentrated positions in tokens they believe will define the next phase of digital finance.
