A trader who secured a substantial amount of HYPE through Hyperliquid’s early airdrop has announced plans to hold Variational’s native VAR token for the long term, drawing market attention. The trader received approximately 474,000 HYPE in Hyperliquid’s 2024 airdrop. As of mid-October, the trader had also accumulated around $3.55 billion in trading volume on Variational, ranking among the platform’s top users. Variational is a decentralized derivatives platform supporting a range of assets, including cryptocurrencies, US stocks, commodities, and equity indices. Its latest operating data shows cumulative trading volume of approximately $417.9 billion and two-sided open interest of around $2 billion. Market attention is now focused on the VAR token launch planned for Q4 this year. Around 32% of the total token supply will be airdropped to points holders, while all revenue allocated to the protocol treasury is set to be used for VAR buybacks and burns. This model resembles Hyperliquid’s approach of using platform revenue to support token demand. However, the immediate circulation of airdropped tokens could create selling pressure after launch. Ultimately, VAR’s long-term value will depend less on the launch itself and more on whether Variational can sustain trading volume and revenue, and whether its buyback-and-burn policy translates into lasting token demand. 👀