Hyperliquid has surpassed the $10 billion mark in open interest: a new record for decentralized derivatives.
The volume of Open Interest on the Hyperliquid platform has exceeded $10 billion for the first time. This metric has propelled the protocol to third place among the largest platforms for trading perpetual swaps. The growth was made possible by the launch of markets for traditional assets — stocks, commodities, and stock indices.
The key driver was decentralized exchanges (DEXs) created by third-party developers under the HIP-3 mechanism. They accounted for approximately $4 billion of the open interest. Traders are actively using synthetic instruments: trading volumes for oil and the Nasdaq 100 index regularly exceed $100 million per day.
Pre-IPO markets deserve special attention. Ahead of the anticipated SpaceX listing, open interest for the corresponding contract reached $250 million, demonstrating high demand for tokenized stakes in private companies.
An important stage in the ecosystem's development was the transition to the USDC stablecoin. After the USDH brand was acquired by Circle and Coinbase, USDC became the primary settlement asset for Hyperliquid. Under the partnership terms, the 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 within the network. At current rates, this will bring the platform about $160 million annually.
The protocol will allocate additional revenue to buy back and burn native HYPE tokens. The total buyback amount is expected to be $450 million. This mechanism will reduce the asset's supply and support its market value.
As a reminder, back in May, Hyperliquid's share of the derivatives market grew to a record 6.63% of the total turnover on CEXs — $200 million out of $3 trillion. Current figures confirm a steady trend toward the decentralization of derivatives trading.
My comment: Hyperliquid demonstrates how a smart integration of traditional financial instruments and incentive mechanisms can elevate a DeFi protocol to a level comparable to centralized giants. The transition to USDC and the HYPE buyback program are strategically sound steps that strengthen the trust of institutional players. However, the key risk remains dependence on stablecoin regulation and the potential volatility of the HYPE token itself.