ViewDAO
Trader Pumponomics allocated $5.2 million across two assets that most retail traders had written off. Zcash (ZEC) and Hyperliquid (HYPE) each had their own narratives: ZEC as privacy coin legacy, HYPE as a perpetuals exchange token with a deflationary mechanism. By May 21, that $5.2 million had turned into roughly $5.74 million in realized gains plus open position value, totaling about $10 million. Bitcoin sat around $77,000, barely moving. Meanwhile, ZEC doubled to $666 and HYPE climbed from the mid-$30s to $58 on strong volume and token burns.
This wasn't a lucky meme coin gamble. Pumponomics started building the ZEC position in late March at around $322 per coin, investing $511,000. By late May, that had grown to $3.57 million. The HYPE play began with $69,000 in early April, swelling to $2.17 million. The returns came from two different mechanisms. ZEC benefited from institutional buying, specifically Multicoin Capital accumulating large amounts. HYPE gained from Hyperliquid's token burn schedule, which reduces supply every quarter.
The broader market context matters. Bitcoin spent most of April and May in a tight range between $75,000 and $80,000. Altcoin season indicators were mixed. Fear and greed index stayed in neutral territory. In that environment, capital flowed into assets with specific catalysts instead of broad market beta. ZEC had the privacy narrative reviving as regulators in the US and EU began discussing on-chain surveillance bills. HYPE had the exchange revenue story, with Hyperliquid processing over $1 billion in daily volume during April and May.
Let's look at the numbers more closely. ZEC's price went from $322 to $666. That's a 107% gain. Volume during that period averaged $150 million daily, up from $50 million in March. The token saw its largest single-day burn on May 15, removing $3 million worth of supply. HYPE's price moved from $34 to $58, a 71% gain. The exchange's daily volume jumped from $800 million to $1.2 billion. Hyperliquid executed two token burns in April and May, removing a combined $8 million worth of HYPE from circulation.
What did Pumponomics see that others missed? He has mentioned in interviews that he looks for assets with "asymmetric upside" where the downside is contained by a floor price and the upside is open-ended. For ZEC, the floor was its mining cost plus the institutional bid from Multicoin. For HYPE, the floor was the exchange's revenue multiple, which at entry was trading at 8x annualized earnings.
The practical takeaway for ViewDAO readers is not to copy the trade. It's to understand the framework. Pumponomics didn't bet on random coins. He identified two assets with specific, measurable catalysts. ZEC had institutional accumulation and a regulatory tailwind. HYPE had a deflationary supply schedule and exchange revenue growth. Both had floors that made the risk-reward favorable.
One signal you can watch for in your own trading: quiet periods in BTC often precede sector rotation. When Bitcoin stops leading, capital flows into assets with independent narratives. The April-May period was exactly that. BTC volume dropped 30% from March levels. ZEC and HYPE volume increased 200% and 50% respectively. That's the divergence you need to spot.
Pumponomics stays bullish, saying the job's not finished. But the market has already repriced both assets. ZEC at $666 now trades at a premium to its mining cost. HYPE at $58 prices in several more quarters of burns. The easy money is gone. The lesson is about process, not prediction.