Hyperliquid has surpassed the $10 billion mark in open interest: an analysis of expansion into traditional markets
The decentralized platform Hyperliquid has reached a historic milestone, recording an Open Interest volume exceeding $10 billion. According to my data, this has allowed the protocol to secure the third position among all platforms trading perpetual futures, trailing only the recognized giants of the centralized market.
The key driver of this growth was the strategic launch of markets for traditional assets. This includes stocks, commodities, and stock indices. Notably, approximately $4 billion of the total open interest volume was generated by decentralized exchanges created by third-party developers under the HIP-3 mechanism. This is direct proof that Hyperliquid's model as a base layer for liquidity is working effectively.
Synthetic instruments are of particular interest. Traders are actively using contracts for oil and the Nasdaq 100 index, where daily trading volume regularly exceeds $100 million. However, the most striking example was the SpaceX pre-IPO market: ahead of the anticipated listing, open interest for the corresponding contract surged to $250 million. This demonstrates growing demand for tokenized versions of traditional assets before their official exchange listings.
The most significant infrastructure change was the ecosystem's complete transition to the USDC stablecoin. After Circle and Coinbase absorbed the USDH brand, USDC became the platform's primary settlement asset. The partnership terms stipulate that issuers must stake HYPE tokens and share protocol revenue from reserves. According to my estimates, Hyperliquid will receive approximately 90% of the profits from Treasury bonds and repo deals backing USDC within the network. At current rates, this will bring the platform around $160 million annually.
The protocol will direct these additional revenues to buy back and burn native HYPE tokens. The expected buyback volume is $450 million. According to the project's mechanics, such burning should reduce the asset's circulating supply and, consequently, support its market value.
Let me remind you that back in May, Hyperliquid's share of the derivatives market reached a record 6.63% of total CEX turnover — $200 million out of $3 trillion. Current indicators confirm that the platform is not just holding its positions but is confidently expanding its influence.
Analyst Comment: Hyperliquid's transition to USDC and integration with traditional financial instruments is not just a technical update but a paradigm shift. The protocol is effectively becoming a bridge between DeFi and TradFi, offering institutional players familiar assets with decentralized infrastructure. If the trend continues, we may see Hyperliquid challenge not only other DEXs but also centralized giants like Binance and Bybit.