What Is Haedal? Price, Sui Staking Protocol and How to Buy in 2026

Haedal is the largest liquid staking protocol on Sui by total value locked, and it has had one of the roughest post-launch price trajectories of any Binance-listed token in the past year. The HAEDAL token hit $0.30 in July 2025, roughly two months after its Binance listing. By February 2026, it was trading around $0.03 to $0.04, a decline exceeding 85%. Meanwhile, the protocol itself kept growing: over 210 million in TVL, 794,000+ holders, 44,000 daily active wallets, and an automated market maker ranking among the top three on Sui by daily volume.

That split between protocol traction and token price collapse is the story.

Understanding why the protocol works but the token has bled helps you decide whether HAEDAL at these levels is a beaten-down opportunity tied to a growing Sui ecosystem, or a structurally impaired token still finding its floor.

How Does Haedal Work?

Haedal solves the standard problem with proof-of-stake blockchains: when you stake tokens, they are locked and cannot be used elsewhere. Haedal lets you stake SUI (or Walrus WAL tokens) and receive a liquid staking token called haSUI (or haWAL) in return. That token represents your staked position, earns validator rewards, and can simultaneously be used across Sui's DeFi ecosystem for lending, borrowing, liquidity provision, and trading.

The mechanics are straightforward. You deposit SUI into Haedal's smart contracts. Haedal's system automatically delegates your stake to high-performing validators, monitoring performance and reallocating away from underperformers to keep your APR maximized. You receive haSUI, which appreciates relative to SUI over time as staking rewards accumulate. When you want out, you redeem haSUI for SUI plus accrued rewards at any time with no lock-up period.

What makes Haedal more interesting than a vanilla liquid staking wrapper is the Hae3 product suite built on top of the staking infrastructure.

Haedal Market Maker (HMM) is an oracle-based automated market maker that uses protocol-owned liquidity to trade haSUI pairs across Sui DEXs. HMM concentrates liquidity in narrow price ranges using dynamic leverage rather than spreading it across the full price curve like traditional AMMs. By February 2026, HMM had processed over $1.2 billion in cumulative trading volume and ranked as the third-largest AMM on Sui by daily volume. It charges a 0.04% trading fee. Profits flow back to haSUI holders (40%), HAEDAL token buybacks (50%), and the protocol treasury (10%).

haeVault brings CEX-grade market-making strategies to regular DeFi users. It uses ultra-narrow rebalancing strategies on liquidity positions, claiming significantly higher net returns than standard LP positions on Cetus and other Sui DEXs. TVL in haeVault reached $7.2 million, with the product designed to make advanced yield strategies accessible without requiring active position management.

veHAEDAL is the governance layer. Users lock HAEDAL tokens for 1 to 52 weeks and receive vote-escrowed veHAEDAL that decays over time. Longer locks yield more voting power and boosted staking rewards. This mechanism aligns governance influence with long-term commitment to the protocol.

What Is the HAEDAL Token?

HAEDAL is the governance and utility token with a total supply of 1 billion and a 7-year release schedule. At launch, roughly 195 million tokens (19.5%) entered circulation. As of February 2026, circulating supply has grown to approximately 225 to 325 million depending on the data source, reflecting ongoing incentive distributions.

The token serves three functions: governance through veHAEDAL locking, yield boosting on Haedal products, and indirect value capture through HMM buybacks (50% of HMM trading profits go to HAEDAL buybacks distributed to veHAEDAL stakers).

The gap between market cap ($10 million) and FDV ($35 million) reflects the roughly 70% of tokens still to enter circulation over the coming years. That overhang matters and is discussed in the risk section below.

How Has HAEDAL Price Performed?

The HAEDAL token launched via Binance HODLer Airdrop in late April 2025, with the TGE (Token Generation Event) on April 29, 2025. The listing on Binance followed on May 21, 2025, triggering a 50%+ pump from the $0.12 to $0.13 base to roughly $0.20.

The rally continued through the Sui ecosystem's summer momentum. HAEDAL peaked at $0.30 on July 17, 2025, coinciding with a broader altcoin rally and strong Sui DeFi activity. From there, the decline was steep and sustained. By December 2025, the token had dropped below $0.04, hitting $0.035 on December 18. A brief bounce in early January 2026 faded quickly, and HAEDAL set a new all-time low near $0.023 on February 6, 2026.

The 90%+ decline from ATH reflects several converging factors: the broader crypto market correction that hit small-cap DeFi tokens hardest, continuous token unlocks adding supply into a weak market, and the fundamental challenge that protocol TVL growth has not translated into proportional token demand. haSUI users do not need to hold HAEDAL to stake. The token's value capture mechanism (veHAEDAL boosted yields + HMM buybacks) exists but remains modest relative to the selling pressure from unlocks.

Who Built Haedal?

Haedal was launched in September 2023 as the first liquid staking protocol on Sui mainnet. Co-founder Luke Shi leads protocol development with a focus on yield optimization and Sui-native DeFi infrastructure.

The project closed a seed round in January 2025 backed by Hashed, OKX Ventures, Animoca Ventures, Sui Foundation, Flow Traders, Comma3 Ventures, Dewhales Capital, Cetus, and Scallop. The specific funding amount was not disclosed, but the investor list signals serious backing from both crypto-native venture capital and key Sui ecosystem players. Notably, Cetus and Scallop are leading Sui DeFi protocols themselves, making them strategic partners rather than just financial investors.

Haedal also has a $5 million bug bounty program, which suggests meaningful investment in security infrastructure.

What Makes Haedal Different From Other Liquid Staking Protocols?

Haedal's edge is not just staking. Most liquid staking protocols stop at issuing an LST and letting users figure out what to do with it. Haedal built the entire downstream infrastructure.

The HMM is the key differentiator. By operating a protocol-owned market maker, Haedal generates its own revenue stream independent of staking fees. That revenue subsidizes haSUI yields (making them higher than base staking rates) and funds HAEDAL buybacks. No competitor on Sui offers this vertical integration. Volo and Suilend, the closest competitors, focus on basic staking and lending without an integrated AMM layer.

The anti-MEV design of HMM also matters. On chains like Ethereum, liquid staking tokens frequently suffer from sandwich attacks and front-running that erode user returns. HMM's oracle-based pricing and narrow liquidity concentration naturally resist these attack vectors on Sui.

On the cross-chain side, Haedal integrates Wormhole to bridge assets from Ethereum, Solana, Arbitrum, Base, and BNB Chain into the Sui ecosystem, which broadens the potential user base beyond existing Sui holders.

Haedal's TVL is small compared to Lido or Jito, but within the Sui ecosystem it holds the dominant position in liquid staking. The protocol's value proposition is tied directly to Sui's growth trajectory.

What Are the Risks?

Token unlock dilution is the biggest near-term concern. With only ~22-32% of total supply circulating, ongoing unlocks for incentives, team, and investors will add selling pressure throughout 2026 and beyond. The 7-year vesting schedule means this is a long process. Each monthly unlock batch can represent a material percentage of current market cap given how small the token's valuation is.

Protocol usage does not require holding HAEDAL. You can stake SUI, receive haSUI, and earn rewards without ever buying the HAEDAL token. The token's value capture depends on users choosing to lock HAEDAL into veHAEDAL for boosted yields and governance rights. If most stakers skip that step, the token trades purely on speculation rather than utility demand.

Sui ecosystem dependency is total. Haedal has no multi-chain presence (though multi-chain LST support is on the 2026 roadmap). If Sui's ecosystem growth stalls, or if SUI token price declines significantly, Haedal's TVL measured in USD will compress even if staking deposits stay constant. Haedal's fortunes are a leveraged bet on Sui.

Competition from Sui-native protocols is intensifying. Suilend, Volo, and new entrants will compete for the same pool of SUI stakers. Haedal's first-mover advantage and HMM revenue model provide a moat, but it is not impenetrable.

The 90%+ ATH decline means many early holders are deeply underwater. Any recovery in price will face significant overhead resistance from trapped buyers looking to exit at break-even. That supply wall takes time to work through.

How to Buy HAEDAL on Phemex

Phemex lists HAEDAL/USDT for spot trading with real-time charts and competitive fees.

Step 1: Create and verify your Phemex account.

Step 2: Deposit USDT. Navigate to the HAEDAL/USDT trading pair.

Step 3: Use limit orders. HAEDAL is a small-cap token with daily volume around $3 to $7 million. Spreads can widen during off-peak hours, and market orders risk slippage. Set your price and wait for a fill.

Step 4: Size carefully. Tokens that are down 90% from ATH can still fall another 50%. Position size for the possibility that your entry is not the bottom.

For broader portfolio management, consider parking idle USDT in Phemex Earn while monitoring HAEDAL's price action for signs of stabilization.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is HAEDAL a good buy in 2026?

HAEDAL at $0.03 to $0.04 is a micro-cap bet on the Sui ecosystem with real protocol traction behind it. The TVL, user count, and HMM volume metrics are genuinely strong for a project this size. The risk is that token unlocks and the disconnect between protocol usage and token demand keep the price depressed. If you believe Sui's DeFi ecosystem will grow significantly and that Haedal will maintain its dominant position, current prices offer high upside potential with correspondingly high risk.

What is the difference between haSUI and HAEDAL?

haSUI is the liquid staking token you receive when staking SUI through Haedal. It appreciates over time as validator rewards accrue. HAEDAL is the governance and utility token of the Haedal protocol itself. You do not need HAEDAL to stake SUI or earn staking rewards. HAEDAL is used for governance voting (via veHAEDAL), yield boosting, and receives buyback value from HMM trading profits.

What happens to HAEDAL if SUI price drops?

Haedal's TVL is denominated largely in SUI. A significant SUI price decline would reduce Haedal's dollar-denominated TVL even if the number of staked SUI tokens stays flat. HAEDAL would likely fall further than SUI in such a scenario because it is a smaller, less liquid derivative play on the same ecosystem.

Bottom Line

Haedal is a well-built protocol with a weak token. The liquid staking infrastructure works, the HMM generates real revenue, the user base is growing, and the investor list includes serious names. But HAEDAL the token has dropped 90% because protocol usage and token demand are not the same thing, and ongoing supply unlocks have overwhelmed whatever organic buying exists.

At a ~$10 million market cap with $210 million in TVL, HAEDAL trades at a fraction of its protocol's value. That ratio is either an opportunity or a reflection of the market pricing in future dilution accurately. If Haedal's roadmap delivers multi-chain LST support and HMM revenue scales with Sui's growth, the token has room to recover. Trade it with limit orders, respect the volatility, and size for a position you can hold through further drawdowns.

This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. HAEDAL is a micro-cap token with extreme volatility and significant supply dilution risk. Tokens that have fallen 90% can still decline further. Always conduct your own research and never invest capital you cannot afford to lose.