Hyperliquid has surpassed the $10 billion mark in open interest: growth analysis and strategic changes
The open interest on the Hyperliquid platform has exceeded $10 billion, making the protocol the third-largest venue for trading perpetual futures. This impressive growth is the result of launching markets for traditional assets, including stocks, commodities, and indices.
Approximately $4 billion of the open interest comes from decentralized exchanges built by third-party developers under the HIP-3 mechanism. Traders are actively using synthetic instruments: oil and the Nasdaq 100 index regularly account for over $100 million in daily trading volume. Pre-IPO markets have generated particular interest: ahead of the SpaceX listing, open interest in the corresponding contract reached $250 million.
Transition to USDC and a New Economic Model
A key stage in the ecosystem's development was the transition to the USDC stablecoin. After the integration of the USDH brand by Circle and Coinbase, USDC became the platform's primary settlement asset. Under the partnership terms, issuers are required to stake HYPE tokens and share the yield from reserves with the protocol.
Hyperliquid will receive approximately 90% of the profits from Treasury bonds and repo transactions backing USDC on-chain. At current rates, this will generate around $160 million annually for the platform. The protocol will allocate additional revenue to buy back and burn native HYPE tokens. The total buyback amount is expected to be $450 million, which will reduce the asset's supply and support its market value.
Recall that in May, Hyperliquid's share of perpetual futures trading volume rose to a record 6.63% of the total CEX turnover — $200 million out of $3 trillion.
My analysis: Hyperliquid demonstrates a mature approach to scaling, combining decentralized infrastructure with traditional financial instruments. The transition to USDC and the buyback mechanism create a sustainable economic model that could attract institutional investors. However, it is worth monitoring how the protocol handles regulatory challenges, especially in the context of pre-IPO markets.