Hyperliquid has reached $10 billion in open interest: a new record for decentralized derivatives
The Hyperliquid platform has firmly secured its place among the top three venues for trading perpetual futures. The protocol's open interest volume has exceeded the $10 billion mark. This achievement was made possible by the launch of markets for traditional assets — stocks, commodities, and stock indices.
The key growth driver was the ecosystem of decentralized exchanges built by third-party developers under the HIP-3 initiative. They accounted for approximately $4 billion in open interest. Traders are actively using synthetic instruments: the daily trading volume for oil contracts and the Nasdaq 100 index regularly exceeds $100 million.
Pre-IPO markets deserve special attention. Ahead of the anticipated SpaceX listing, open interest in the corresponding contract reached $250 million. This indicates high demand for tokenized versions of traditional assets before they go public on exchanges.
An important milestone in Hyperliquid's development was the full transition to the USDC stablecoin. After the USDH brand was acquired by Circle and Coinbase, USDC became the platform's primary settlement asset. The partnership terms require issuers to stake HYPE tokens and share protocol revenue from reserves. Hyperliquid will receive approximately 90% of the profits from Treasury bonds and repo deals backing USDC on-chain. At current rates, this will bring the platform around $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. According to the project's mechanics, burning 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 total centralized exchange turnover — $200 million out of $3 trillion.
Analytical Commentary: Hyperliquid demonstrates how the smart integration of traditional financial instruments into a decentralized environment can radically reshape the derivatives market landscape. The transition to USDC and the HYPE buyback mechanism create a sustainable economic model that could attract institutional investors seeking transparent and profitable instruments. In the coming quarters, I expect Hyperliquid's share to grow further through the expansion of its synthetic asset lineup.