Verify a decision

{"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"c035bd99-6451-4ec8-97c4-3a8a746dde2b","kind":"publish","page_slug":"hypc","published_at":"2026-05-19T16:03:19.873Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"HyPC","sections":[{"content":"HyperCycle describes itself as a Layer 0++ blockchain architecture designed to enable high-speed, low-cost on-chain execution of microservices, with a particular focus on AI-to-AI transactions. The project leverages the TODA/IP ledgerless blockchain protocol and SingularityNET's Proof of Reputation system. It was co-founded by Toufi Saliba (CEO), co-inventor of the TODA technology, and Dr. Ben Goertzel, founder of SingularityNET and a prominent figure in artificial general intelligence (AGI) research. The HYPC token is deployed as an ERC-20 contract on Ethereum Mainnet at address 0xea7b7dc089c9a4a916b5a7a37617f59fd54e37e4, with a maximum supply of 2,147,483,648 tokens. A parallel contract exists on BNB Chain. Token sales were conducted across multiple launchpads including Seedify, Poolz Finance, and Vent Finance, with a public IDO price of $0.085. The project raised approximately $8.96 million across seed, private, public, and community rounds.","heading":"Project Overview","severity":"low","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"HyperCycle Token (HyPC) ERC-20 Contract — Etherscan","type":"on_chain","url":"https://etherscan.io/token/0xea7b7dc089c9a4a916b5a7a37617f59fd54e37e4"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Introducing HyperCycle — SingularityNET Blog","type":"official","url":"https://blog.singularitynet.io/introducing-hypercycle-singularitynets-radically-scalable-ledgerless-cardano-sidechain-3abbb24ff880"},{"credibility":2,"name":"HyperCycle (HYPC) Price, Investors & Funding — Chain Broker","type":"research","url":"https://chainbroker.io/projects/hypercycle/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"HyperCycle (HYPC) — CoinMarketCap","type":"other","url":"https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/hypercycle/"}]},{"content":"The HYPC ERC-20 smart contract implements OpenZeppelin's role-based access control with three privileged roles: DEFAULT_ADMIN_ROLE, MINTER_ROLE, and PAUSER_ROLE. The PAUSER_ROLE is the most significant user-facing risk: any address assigned this role can call the pause() function, which immediately halts all HYPC token transfers across the entire network. This means that if the account holding PAUSER_ROLE is compromised, coerced, or acts maliciously, every holder of HYPC would be unable to transfer, sell, or move their tokens until the pause is lifted. There is no publicly documented multi-signature requirement or timelock governing the exercise of this role. The contract was compiled with Solidity v0.8.9. Etherscan has noted that no security audit has been submitted for this contract. The presence of an unconstrained pause mechanism in a token marketed to a broad retail audience represents a material centralization risk that can affect token liquidity without prior notice.","heading":"Pauser Role — Centralized Transfer Control","severity":"high","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"HyperCycle Token (HyPC) ERC-20 Contract — Etherscan","type":"on_chain","url":"https://etherscan.io/token/0xea7b7dc089c9a4a916b5a7a37617f59fd54e37e4"},{"credibility":2,"name":"How to Make a Pausable ERC-20 Token — Coinmonks / Medium","type":"research","url":"https://medium.com/coinmonks/how-to-make-a-pausable-erc20-token-9fb1ab5dc877"}]},{"content":"As of the time of this investigation, no publicly accessible independent smart contract security audit has been submitted for the HyPC ERC-20 contract on Etherscan. CoinMarketCap's data aggregator lists a CertiK security rating of 3.8 out of 10 for HyperCycle — a score indicating substantial security concerns by CertiK's own methodology. The absence of a formal security audit is particularly significant given that the contract contains privileged roles (PAUSER_ROLE, MINTER_ROLE) that, if improperly secured, could be exploited. Without an audit, there is no independent verification that access controls are correctly scoped, that no reentrancy or overflow vulnerabilities exist, or that admin key management meets acceptable standards. The combination of unaudited code and high-privilege roles elevates the risk profile materially.","heading":"No Independent Smart Contract Audit","severity":"high","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"HyperCycle Token (HyPC) ERC-20 Contract — Etherscan","type":"on_chain","url":"https://etherscan.io/token/0xea7b7dc089c9a4a916b5a7a37617f59fd54e37e4"},{"credibility":2,"name":"HyperCycle price today — CoinMarketCap (CertiK score referenced)","type":"other","url":"https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/hypercycle/"}]},{"content":"Approximately 20% of the total HYPC supply (roughly 429 million tokens) is allocated to team members, advisors, and strategic partners. Community analysts flagged this allocation as problematic when combined with the vesting terms: a six-month cliff followed by daily or monthly vesting over approximately 30 months. At prevailing prices near the IDO, analysts estimated approximately $493,000 worth of tokens being unlocked per month for insiders, creating sustained downward price pressure. Seed investors entered at $0.0332 per token — representing nearly a 10x gain at the IDO price and substantially higher at the October 2023 all-time high — providing strong financial incentive to sell into retail demand. Independent tokenomics reviewers noted that the structure \"favors early investors significantly\" and that latecomers face \"strong selling pressure every step of the way.\" The project's Team and Shareholders category holds 22.5% of total supply per CryptoRank data (5.5% already unlocked), and the Treasury holds an additional 18%. The Ecosystem and Network Adoption Fund controls 28.6%. This means a large majority of supply is controlled by insiders and affiliated entities.","heading":"Tokenomics and Insider Vesting Concerns","severity":"high","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"HyperCycle HYPC Tokenomics Review — crowdnews (Adrian)","type":"community_report","url":"https://crowd.news/post/hypercycle-HYPC-tokenomics-review-by-adrian-64621180bb87e5eb98a58fc6"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Hypercycle (HYPC) Token Unlocks and Vesting — CryptoRank","type":"research","url":"https://cryptorank.io/price/hypercycle/vesting"},{"credibility":3,"name":"HyperCycle (HYPC) Community Reviews — crowdnews","type":"community_report","url":"https://crowd.news/project/hypercycle-hypc"},{"credibility":2,"name":"HyperCycle (HYPC) Tokenomics — CoinCarp","type":"research","url":"https://www.coincarp.com/currencies/hypercycle/project-info/"}]},{"content":"HYPC reached its all-time high of approximately $1.18–$1.29 in May and October 2023 — shortly after the IDO and during a period of elevated interest in AI-narrative tokens. As of early 2026, the token trades at approximately $0.008, representing a decline of approximately 99.3–99.6% from peak. The token has underperformed even broad crypto market drawdowns substantially. In 2025 alone, the token declined approximately 96.4%. The all-time low of approximately $0.004 was recorded in April 2026. Early retail investors who purchased at the IDO price of $0.085 have also experienced losses, as the current price remains below that entry level. The price chart is consistent with a pattern of sustained insider-driven sell pressure following the initial AI-narrative driven price appreciation. No major product milestones or adoption events have been publicly linked to price recovery attempts.","heading":"Price Collapse — ~99% Decline from All-Time High","severity":"high","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"HyperCycle Price: HYPC Live Price Chart — CoinGecko","type":"other","url":"https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/hypercycle"},{"credibility":2,"name":"HyperCycle price today — CoinMarketCap","type":"other","url":"https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/hypercycle/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"HyperCycle (HYPC) Price, Investors & Funding — Chain Broker","type":"research","url":"https://chainbroker.io/projects/hypercycle/"}]},{"content":"HyperCycle launched into a period of intense retail interest in AI-related crypto tokens. On-chain investigator ZachXBT has publicly stated that \"99% of [AI agent tokens] are a scam\" and that \"the AI agent wrapper grifts are probably worse than other past trends\" because they \"larp as much as possible to appear legit to unsuspecting buyers.\" While ZachXBT's public statements available at the time of this investigation do not constitute a named investigation specifically targeting HYPC, his broader warnings about AI-narrative tokens are directly applicable to HYPC's positioning. ZachXBT has separately flagged HYPC in intelligence feeds consumed by AVOID.NET, which prompted this investigation. The project's marketing leans heavily on association with well-known AI figures (Ben Goertzel, SingularityNET) and uses terms such as \"AI-to-AI transactions,\" \"decentralized AI,\" and \"Internet of AI\" — language consistent with the narrative-driven token launches ZachXBT and others have criticized.","heading":"AI Narrative Positioning and ZachXBT Context","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"On-chain Detective ZachXBT Slams AI Agent Tokens, Calls 99% Scams — BeInCrypto","type":"news_article","url":"https://beincrypto.com/zachxbt-slams-ai-agent-tokens/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"HyperCycle (HYPC) Community Reviews — crowdnews","type":"community_report","url":"https://crowd.news/project/hypercycle-hypc"}]},{"content":"Multiple independent reviewers noted at launch that HyperCycle did not publish a publicly accessible roadmap on its website, Twitter, or whitepaper. This absence limits the ability of prospective investors to evaluate project progress or hold the team accountable to stated milestones. The circulating supply remains a small fraction (approximately 7.2%) of the maximum supply of 2.147 billion tokens, meaning significant future dilution is possible as additional tranches unlock. The project has a presence across Ethereum and BNB Chain but has not publicly announced a major smart contract audit from a recognized security firm (e.g., CertiK, Trail of Bits, Quantstamp, Halborn). Tokenomics data on CryptoRank requires account creation to access full vesting timelines, reducing transparency for casual investors.","heading":"Transparency and Roadmap Gaps","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"HyperCycle (HYPC) Community Reviews — crowdnews","type":"community_report","url":"https://crowd.news/project/hypercycle-hypc"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Hypercycle (HYPC) IDO Token Sale Review — CryptoRank","type":"research","url":"https://cryptorank.io/ico/hypercycle"},{"credibility":1,"name":"HyperCycle Token (HyPC) ERC-20 Contract — Etherscan","type":"on_chain","url":"https://etherscan.io/token/0xea7b7dc089c9a4a916b5a7a37617f59fd54e37e4"}]}],"sources_used":[],"summary":"HyperCycle (HYPC) is an Ethereum ERC-20 token marketed as infrastructure for decentralized AI-to-AI transactions, co-founded by SingularityNET's Ben Goertzel and TODA inventor Toufi Saliba. The token has lost approximately 99% of its value from its all-time high of $1.29, and its smart contract contains a PAUSER_ROLE that allows a designated admin to halt all token transfers at will. No independent smart contract security audit has been publicly submitted, and the tokenomics structure — which allocates 20% to team, advisors, and partners with a relatively short vesting cliff — has been cited by multiple analysts as generating sustained selling pressure that disadvantages retail participants. ZachXBT has broadly flagged AI-narrative token projects as high-risk.","timeline":[{"date":"2023-04-01","event":"HyperCycle ICO/IDO begins; token sale conducted on Seedify, Poolz Finance, and Vent Finance at a public price of $0.085 per HYPC. Project raised approximately $8.96M total across all rounds.","source":"CoinCarp / CryptoRank","source_url":"https://cryptorank.io/ico/hypercycle"},{"date":"2023-05-05","event":"HyperCycle IDO closes. Token generation event (TGE) occurs; 10% of public sale allocation unlocked immediately, with 3-month cliff and 21-month monthly vesting thereafter.","source":"CoinCarp project info","source_url":"https://www.coincarp.com/currencies/hypercycle/project-info/"},{"date":"2023-05-08","event":"HYPC records an early price peak of approximately $1.29, representing a ~15x return over the IDO price within days of launch.","source":"CoinMarketCap","source_url":"https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/hypercycle/"},{"date":"2023-10-24","event":"HYPC reaches a second all-time high of approximately $1.11–$1.18, driven by renewed AI token narrative interest. This becomes the definitive ATH reference point.","source":"CryptoRank / CoinCodex","source_url":"https://cryptorank.io/price/hypercycle"},{"date":"2024-01-01","event":"HYPC begins sustained decline as AI token hype cycle cools. Team and early investor vesting unlocks begin contributing to sell pressure.","source":"CoinGecko historical data","source_url":"https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/hypercycle"},{"date":"2025-01-01","event":"HYPC opens 2025 at approximately $0.191. The token then declines 96.4% over the course of 2025 to approximately $0.0068 by year end.","source":"CryptoRank price history","source_url":"https://cryptorank.io/price/hypercycle"},{"date":"2026-04-04","event":"HYPC records its all-time low of approximately $0.003914 on Ethereum Mainnet.","source":"CoinMarketCap","source_url":"https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/hypercycle/"},{"date":"2026-05-01","event":"HYPC trading at approximately $0.008, down approximately 99.4% from ATH. Market cap approximately $1.27M. CertiK security rating listed at 3.8/10. ZachXBT intelligence feed flags HYPC for AVOID.NET investigation.","source":"CoinMarketCap / Chain Broker","source_url":"https://chainbroker.io/projects/hypercycle/"}]},"v":1}