Hyperliquid reaches $10 billion in open interest: synthetic assets and the transition to USDC as growth drivers
The open interest on the Hyperliquid platform has exceeded the $10 billion mark, allowing the protocol to take third place among the largest venues for trading perpetual futures. This impressive growth resulted from a strategic expansion into traditional asset markets, including stocks, commodities, and indices.
A key driver was the introduction of markets for synthetic instruments. Approximately $4 billion of open interest comes from decentralized exchanges created by third-party developers under the HIP-3 mechanism. Traders are actively trading contracts on oil and the Nasdaq 100 index, where daily volume regularly exceeds $100 million. Pre-IPO markets generated particular interest: ahead of the expected SpaceX listing, open interest for the corresponding contract reached $250 million.
Another significant milestone in the ecosystem's development was the full transition to USDC. After integrating the stablecoin backed by Circle and Coinbase, USDC became the platform's primary settlement asset. As part of the partnership, the issuers are required to stake HYPE tokens and share the yield from reserves with the protocol. Hyperliquid will receive approximately 90% of the profit from treasury bonds and repo transactions, which, at current rates, will bring the platform about $160 million per year.
The protocol will allocate additional revenue to buy back and burn native HYPE tokens. The expected buyback volume is $450 million, which, according to the project's mechanics, will reduce the asset's supply and support its market value.
Recall that back in May, Hyperliquid's share of the derivatives market reached a record 6.63% of the total turnover on centralized exchanges, amounting to $200 million out of $3 trillion. Current figures only confirm the steady trend toward decentralization and growing interest in synthetic assets.
Analyst Comment: Hyperliquid's transition to USDC and its focus on traditional assets is not just a tactical move but a fundamental paradigm shift. The platform is essentially creating a bridge between DeFi and TradFi, offering institutional players familiar instruments in a decentralized wrapper. If current growth rates persist, Hyperliquid could become a serious competitor to the largest CEXs in the derivatives segment.