- HYPE soared nearly 50% in a week, hitting a record $39.96 as Hyperliquid’s trading volume topped $78 billion.
- Whale activity and strong on-chain metrics like $10.1B in open interest and $1.46B TVL fueled the rally.
- With gas-free trading, 50× leverage, and rising adoption, Hyperliquid is gaining ground on centralized exchanges.
HYPE, the native token of Hyperliquid, has surged roughly 50% over the past week, hitting an all-time high of $39.96 and climbing to the 11th spot on CoinMarketCap—overtaking several well-known tokens like Sui. This explosive move has caught the market’s attention, especially as it happened during a relatively quiet period for most altcoins. Several factors are fueling this bullish momentum.
Trading activity on the Hyperliquid platform has ramped up significantly, with daily volumes exceeding $2 billion. Between May 11 and May 18, the platform recorded its highest weekly trading volume ever—$78.67 billion—highlighting the growing traction it’s getting among high-frequency traders. Part of the recent excitement can be attributed to large whale activity, most notably from trader James Wynn, whose substantial positions and engagement with the platform have brought visibility and credibility.
Meanwhile, on-chain metrics are flashing bullish signals: open interest has surpassed $10.1 billion, and total value locked has climbed to $1.46 billion, both indicating rising user confidence and deeper market participation. Technically, HYPE has broken past multiple resistance levels and entered price discovery mode, with some analysts pointing to $44.65 as the next likely target if momentum continues. All of this underscores a rising belief that Hyperliquid isn’t just another DEX—it’s becoming a dominant trading venue with performance that’s catching up to centralized counterparts.
Project Overview
Hyperliquid is a purpose-built Layer-1 blockchain designed to support a fully on-chain perpetual futures exchange with an order-book architecture. Its goal is to replicate the performance and user experience of centralized exchanges while remaining entirely decentralized. The platform enables high-leverage crypto derivatives trading—offering up to 50× on perpetual swaps—alongside spot markets, all with near-instant finality and zero gas fees.
By combining the speed and reliability of centralized finance with the transparency and self-custody of DeFi, Hyperliquid delivers a low-latency, high-throughput environment for traders. It supports a wide range of assets including BTC, ETH, AVAX, SOL, and SUI, underpinning a multi-billion dollar on-chain ecosystem anchored by its native HYPE token. Originally launched on Arbitrum, the team transitioned to a proprietary blockchain in early 2024 to better tailor the infrastructure to the platform’s performance and scalability needs.
Key Technologies and Offerings
Hyperliquid’s technical architecture is built for speed and scalability. At the heart of its infrastructure is the HyperBFT consensus algorithm, paired with a custom networking stack that enables tens of thousands of transactions per second and block times of approximately 0.2 seconds. This high-throughput, low-latency setup means that every order, cancellation, and trade is processed fully on-chain with finality in under one second—a rarity even among high-performance chains.
Unlike many decentralized exchanges that rely on off-chain or hybrid models for order execution, Hyperliquid features a fully on-chain order book. This design choice provides unmatched transparency and real-time settlement, which is why the platform is often referred to as an “on-chain Binance.” Slippage is minimized, and traders benefit from a clear and verifiable price discovery mechanism without compromising on execution speed.
One of the most trader-friendly features is gas-free trading. Users pay no gas fees when executing perpetual trades—an uncommon offering in the DeFi space. Instead, the platform monetizes through trading fees, structured to remain competitive. Maker rebates incentivize liquidity provision, while low taker fees keep trading costs manageable even for high-frequency users.
To further cater to advanced users, Hyperliquid offers a full suite of trading tools. These include up to 50× leverage, customizable take-profit and stop-loss orders, and robust API access for those running bots or algorithmic strategies. Combined with one-click order execution and near-instant finality, the experience rivals that of leading centralized exchanges.
Beyond trading, the platform’s broader ecosystem includes features designed for community and developer participation. Hyperliquid has introduced permissionless standards like HIP-1, which allows anyone to launch new tokens via auction, and HIP-2, which sets a foundation for automated market makers (AMMs). It also offers structured vaults for copy trading and a clearinghouse system that decentralizes liquidation and market-making roles, creating more opportunities for users to engage in the platform’s core financial activities.
Achievements
Hyperliquid made headlines with one of the largest airdrops in crypto history, distributing 310 million HYPE tokens—31% of the total supply—to over 90,000 early users. Valued at more than $4.3 billion at launch, the scale of this giveaway set a new benchmark for decentralized distribution and instantly onboarded a massive user base. It wasn’t just a marketing stunt—it laid the foundation for broad community ownership and network engagement from day one.
When HYPE began trading in November 2024, the market response was immediate. The token opened with a market cap of $1.7 billion and a fully diluted valuation of around $5.1 billion. That figure ballooned to approximately $27 billion in FDV within days, making it the single biggest launch of the year by that metric. It outpaced other major rollouts, signaling that both retail and institutional participants saw serious potential in the project’s model.
Since then, Hyperliquid has grown into the largest on-chain perpetuals exchange by trading volume. Open interest on the platform reached a staggering $9.3 billion by May 2025, reflecting deep market liquidity and high trader participation. This kind of growth isn’t just about speculative hype—it suggests the platform is genuinely capturing market share from centralized and decentralized competitors alike.
Within just six months of launch, HYPE climbed into the top 15 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, landing at #13 on CoinGecko. That rapid ascent reflects strong investor confidence and growing belief that Hyperliquid could be a long-term fixture in the decentralized finance ecosystem.
Use Cases
Hyperliquid’s primary utility lies in its perpetual futures trading. The platform allows users to take long or short positions on major assets like BTC, ETH, and SOL with leverage of up to 50×—all on-chain. This eliminates the need for intermediaries or centralized exchanges, giving traders complete custody over their funds while maintaining the kind of performance and execution speed typically found on centralized platforms. It’s particularly appealing to advanced traders who want transparency, speed, and trustless settlement all in one place.
Alongside derivatives, Hyperliquid also supports spot trading for a wide array of tokens. This enables users to buy and sell crypto instantly, leveraging the platform’s deep liquidity and rapid settlement. Having both spot and perpetual markets under one roof, all on-chain, creates a seamless environment for a broad spectrum of trading strategies—from basic swaps to complex hedging.
The HYPE token isn’t just for trading—it also plays a core role in securing the network. Holders can stake HYPE to participate in block validation, earning rewards while helping keep the chain secure and decentralized. In the future, stakers will also have the ability to vote on protocol upgrades and governance decisions, giving the community meaningful control over how the platform evolves.
Beyond trading, Hyperliquid is also a hub for DeFi innovation. Developers can launch tokens and financial apps directly on the chain using standards like HIP-1, which facilitates permissionless token listings through decentralized auctions. This has sparked the creation of new protocols ranging from lending platforms to game assets, turning Hyperliquid into more than just an exchange—it’s a growing Layer-1 ecosystem in its own right.
Community and Ecosystem
Hyperliquid jumpstarted its community through one of the biggest airdrops in crypto history, instantly turning tens of thousands of early users into HYPE holders. That base quickly translated into active participation—users dove into trading, staking, and governance discussions. At the launch of staking, over 300 million HYPE (valued at around $8.4 billion) was locked, signaling a strong commitment from the community to help secure the network.
The broader ecosystem is also gaining momentum. A growing number of third-party projects are building on Hyperliquid, including data oracles like Pyth, bridges like Hyperlane and deBridge, DeFi protocols, meme tokens, and even AI-powered applications. This expansion points to a vibrant and diverse developer community that’s using the chain for much more than just trading.
To support that growth, the Hyperliquid Foundation set aside 0.3% of the token supply specifically for community grants. These funds help seed new projects, sponsor hackathons, and incentivize trading competitions. Coupled with active support channels and responsive development, these initiatives have turned Hyperliquid into one of the more engaged and fast-moving ecosystems in crypto.
Team and Partnerships
Hyperliquid was co-founded by Jeff Yan, a former engineer at Hudson River Trading and the founder of Chameleon Trading, a market-making firm. Yan has become the most visible face of the project, often engaging directly with the community on social media and speaking at industry events. His co-founder, known by the pseudonym “Iliensinc,” and other key contributors like “Xulian HL” choose to remain pseudonymous, a common practice in crypto circles that hasn’t deterred community trust.
The project’s core team includes individuals with academic and professional backgrounds from institutions like Harvard, MIT, and Caltech, as well as experience in high-frequency trading firms. This combination of deep technical knowledge and real-world market expertise has been essential to building Hyperliquid’s high-performance, finance-focused blockchain and trading infrastructure.
Rather than raising capital through VCs, Hyperliquid has prioritized building out strategic integrations that enhance the network’s utility. The team works closely with infrastructure partners such as Pyth Network for price oracles and bridges like Hyperlane and deBridge to enable cross-chain functionality. Support from exchanges like KuCoin and Gate.io further bolsters liquidity and market access for the HYPE token, signaling broader industry validation despite its anti-VC stance.
Recent Developments
On December 30, 2024, Hyperliquid rolled out native staking for its HYPE token, giving holders the ability to delegate tokens to validators and earn passive rewards. This marked a key step in decentralizing the network and strengthening its security model. The launch was met with immediate enthusiasm—hundreds of millions of tokens were staked within days, locking in significant community capital. With staking yields hovering around 2–3% annually, the feature has provided both a financial incentive and a governance anchor for long-term holders.
Momentum has continued into 2025, with the platform setting multiple new records. In May, Hyperliquid posted its highest-ever open interest and daily fee revenue, aligning with a fresh all-time high in HYPE’s price, which touched the \$38–\$39 range. These milestones signal not only strong user growth and market adoption but also a sharp rise in protocol earnings—bolstering the project’s position as one of the leading DeFi platforms globally.
Beyond trading and staking, the team has demonstrated an unusual level of maturity in its approach to regulation and security. Following a brief social media account breach, Hyperliquid Labs acted quickly to secure communications and reassure users. At the same time, they’ve taken a proactive stance on regulatory dialogue. In May 2025, the team submitted formal comments to the U.S. CFTC about how to structure oversight for perpetual futures and round-the-clock crypto markets. This kind of forward-facing engagement is rare in DeFi, and suggests a long-term vision that includes compliance. The project has also rolled out a Validator Delegation Program and continues regular security audits, underscoring a strong focus on both decentralization and operational integrity.
Conclusion
Hyperliquid has rapidly established itself as a cutting-edge player in the DeFi space by marrying a high-performance blockchain with a feature-rich trading platform. In just a few months, it achieved significant scale – from a record-breaking token airdrop to billions in trading volume – reflecting strong market traction. The project’s innovative approach (on-chain order books, gasless trades, and community-driven tokenomics) sets it apart from traditional DEXs. Looking ahead, Hyperliquid’s success will depend on how well it can maintain its technical edge, grow its ecosystem, and navigate the evolving regulatory landscape. Thus far, its momentum and community support suggest a promising trajectory for sustained growth and innovation in decentralized finance.
