Hyperliquid has surpassed the $10 billion mark in open interest: growth analysis and strategic moves
The Hyperliquid protocol has firmly secured a spot among the top three leaders in perpetual futures trading platforms, achieving an Open Interest volume exceeding $10 billion. This milestone was made possible by launching markets for traditional assets — stocks, commodities, and key indices. Particularly noteworthy is the contribution of decentralized exchanges (DEXs) built by third-party developers under the HIP-3 initiative, which accounted for approximately $4 billion of the open interest.
Traders are actively using synthetic instruments. For example, the daily trading volume for oil contracts and the Nasdaq 100 index consistently exceeds $100 million. Peak interest in pre-IPO markets was recorded ahead of the anticipated SpaceX listing, when open interest for the corresponding contract reached $250 million. This confirms that Hyperliquid is becoming a platform for speculation on events beyond the cryptocurrency sector.
A key strategic move was the transition to USDC as the primary settlement asset. After integration with Circle and Coinbase, which absorbed the USDH brand, the stablecoin became the foundation for the entire ecosystem. 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 within the network. At current rates, this brings the platform around $160 million annually.
The protocol plans to use these revenues to buy back and burn native HYPE tokens. The expected buyback amount is $450 million. This mechanism, based on reducing supply, is aimed at supporting the asset's market value.
For context: in May, Hyperliquid's share of the derivatives market reached a record 6.63% of the total turnover on centralized exchanges (CEX), amounting to $200 million out of $3 trillion. This indicates sustained growth and the protocol's competitiveness.
My expert opinion: Hyperliquid demonstrates a rare ability among DeFi projects to attract liquidity from traditional markets. However, the growth of open interest in pre-IPO and synthetic instruments carries increased volatility risks. If the protocol can maintain its current pace of adoption and revenue management, it could become a key bridge between cryptocurrencies and traditional finance.