BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has thrown his support behind Synapse Protocol’s Hypercall, describing the decentralized options exchange as a potential competitor to Deribit. His endorsement, combined with a multimillion-dollar purchase of the SYN token, started a rally before traders moved to lock in profits.
The comments, shared on X on June 29, pushed SYN up as much as 26% within hours, adding to the token’s strong monthly performance.
I still want to be long the Hyperliquid ecosystem but I need some asymmetry. It’s time for an options dex to properly take on Deribit. Hypercall, owned by $SYN, is that challenger. Let’s see if they can cook. pic.twitter.com/v6crnHjS4G
— Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) June 29, 2026
Why does Arthur Hayes believe Hypercall can challenge Deribit?
Hayes said Hypercall, an options decentralized exchange developed by the Synapse team and settled on Hyperliquid, has the potential to compete with established crypto derivatives platform Deribit.
According to Hayes, he remains bullish on the Hyperliquid ecosystem but sees Synapse as a more attractive high-upside opportunity. He pointed to several factors supporting his view, including Synapse’s fully diluted valuation of about $81 million, the absence of venture capital token unlocks, and the fact that roughly 88% of the token supply is already in circulation, with the remaining allocation held in the project treasury.
He also noted that SYN is already listed on major cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance and Kraken, giving it broader market access.
Hayes’ $2.2 million purchase sparks SYN rally
Blockchain data showed that Hayes acquired approximately 6.16 million SYN tokens, worth about $2.2 million, through Flowdesk at an average purchase price of $0.3573.
Arthur Hayes(@CryptoHayes) bought 6.16M $SYN($2.2M) an hour ago.$SYN surged more than 10x in June!https://t.co/gau6egd7Vm pic.twitter.com/qSNE4zAXKG
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) June 29, 2026
Following the transaction and his public endorsement, SYN climbed as much as 26% before giving back part of those gains as traders took profits. Despite the pullback, Hayes’ position remained in profit.
The latest surge extends an impressive run for the token, which has gained more than 1,100% over the past month, outperforming much of the broader crypto market.
Meanwhile, Arthur Hayes sold his entire holdings of Hyperliquid’s HYPE token and NEAR Protocol’s NEAR token, signalling a more cautious stance on the crypto market as he warns of growing macroeconomic risks
Are traders already taking profits?
While spot prices remained higher on the day, derivatives data suggested many traders used the rally to exit their positions.
SYN futures open interest dropped 13% over the last four hours to around $31.98 million, although it remained 5% higher than a day earlier. Exchange-specific data showed open interest falling by about 15% on Binance, more than 14% on Bitget, and roughly 10% on MEXC.
The decline in open interest points to profit-taking after the rapid price jump, reflecting a common “buy the rumour, sell the news” trading pattern even as market attention remains focused on Synapse and its Hypercall platform.
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