Early adopters of the perpetuals-focused layer-1 blockchain Hyperliquid were rewarded handsomely on Sunday after the Hyper Foundation finally airdropped the much-awaited Hypurr non-fungible token collection.
At the time of writing, the Hypurr NFTs have a current floor price of around 1,458 Hyperliquid (HYPE), or $68,700, according to OpenSea data.
However, there have already been eye-watering sales well above that range. The Hypurr #21 NFT with the extremely rare “Knight Ghost Armor” and “Knight Helm Ghost” traits went for 9,999 HYPE worth $467,000 on Sept. 28.
Demand was also so high before launch that certain NFTs were sold for as much as $88,000 via OTC desks earlier this month, per DripTrade data.
Such trades were possible through DripTrade’s OTC system, which enables buyers and sellers to agree on a set sale price before launch. The seller must then fulfill the trade within seven days of receiving the NFT, or forfeit collateral put forward as part of the agreement.
Amid a cost-of-living crisis globally, the novelty of receiving a digital cat picture for free, worth more than some people’s annual salary, was not lost on the crypto community.
“CT is really a special place in hell. Average person struggling to get by or buy groceries and you have people posting their $50,000 hyperliquid cat NFTs they got for free,” said X user MoonOverlord.
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While DidiTrading said: “Received an Hypurr NFT which is valued at $50k. I’m usually not good at valuing these things so I will give the market some time to find an equilibrium before I decide what I will do with it.”
Are Hypurr NFTs set to take over the market?
The Hypurr NFTs were deployed on the HyperEVM on Sept. 28 and depict cartoon cat avatars with a range of different traits.
The NFTs were primarily issued to the most active participants in the “Genesis” event in November 2024, which revolved around the launch of the HYPE token.
There are 4,600 NFTs in total, with 4,313 going to Genesis event participants and the remainder divided up among the Hyper Foundation and core project contributors, according to a Sept. 28 post on X.
“The goal of the Hypurr NFT collection was to share a memento with those who believed in and contributed early on to Hyperliquid’s growth. Each NFT is unique and captures the different moods, hobbies, tastes, and quirks of the Hyperliquid community, as depicted by Hypurr,” the Hyper Foundation post reads.
In terms of 24-hour volume, OpenSea data shows that 952,000 HYPE have changed hands, worth around $44.6 million at current prices.
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