Odaily reported that analyst Ansem posted on X about what he described as a “pretty surprising data point.” According to his post, a pair-trading strategy that goes long Hyperliquid (HYPE) while simultaneously shorting Bitcoin (BTC) has actually performed better so far this year than a straightforward long-only position in HYPE against the U.S. dollar.
The comparison focuses on relative strength rather than a single directional bet. Instead of only betting that HYPE rises in dollar terms, the HYPE/BTC structure measures how HYPE performs against BTC by combining a long HYPE leg with a short BTC leg. Ansem’s point was that, under the current market structure, this relative-strength approach has generated higher returns than simply holding one asset on the long side.
The observation also reflects a sharper internal rotation across crypto assets and a widening split in beta behavior. Returns between BTC and higher-volatility altcoins are becoming more clearly layered, and the HYPE/BTC pair trade is presented as an example of how traders can compare performance between assets rather than looking only at whether one token rises or falls against the dollar.