Hyperliquid

Hyperliquid is a blockchain built for trading. Its best-known product is a perpetual futures exchange with a fully onchain order book, but the network also hosts spot markets, a general-purpose smart contract layer (HyperEVM) and markets created by outside builders. Developed by a small team led by co-founder Jeff Yan and funded without venture capital, Hyperliquid became one of the most used decentralized exchanges after its HYPE token launched in November 2024. This page explains how Hyperliquid works, what HYPE does, how the network is governed and which risks traders face.

What Hyperliquid does

Hyperliquid offers perpetual contracts (futures with no expiry) on crypto assets and, through builder-deployed markets, on other underlyings, with leverage and a trading experience close to a centralized exchange. Orders, cancellations, liquidations and funding payments are all processed onchain. Users deposit USDC, now issued natively on the network by Circle, and trade from their own wallet. A community vault, HLP, provides liquidity and earns part of the trading profits and losses.

How the Hyperliquid chain works

The network runs its own consensus, HyperBFT, with two layers: HyperCore, which holds the order books and margin accounts, and HyperEVM, launched on 18 February 2025, where Ethereum-compatible smart contracts can read and use HyperCore liquidity. Mark prices come from an oracle run by the validators: each publishes a weighted median of prices from major exchanges every three seconds, and the network uses the stake-weighted median.

Upgrades are introduced as Hyperliquid Improvement Proposals. HIP-1 defines native tokens, HIP-2 automates spot liquidity, HIP-3 (live since 13 October 2025) lets anyone who stakes 500,000 HYPE deploy their own perpetual markets, and HIP-4 added outcome markets in May 2026.

The HYPE token

HYPE has a maximum supply of 1 billion. At genesis on 29 November 2024, 31% was airdropped to users, 38.888% was set aside for future emissions and community rewards, 23.8% went to core contributors under a lock-up, 6% to the Hyper Foundation and 0.3% to community grants; nothing went to investors or market makers. HYPE pays gas on HyperEVM, secures the chain through staking, and is bought back continuously: the Assistance Fund receives almost all protocol fees and uses them to buy HYPE. In December 2025 validators voted on treating the fund’s tokens as burned. See our HYPE coin page for live market data.

Governance and staking

Decisions such as listings, delistings and protocol changes are made by stake-weighted validator votes. A validator must self-delegate 10,000 HYPE; holders delegate to validators to earn rewards, with a seven-day unstaking period and no automatic slashing. In September 2025, validators chose Native Markets to issue USDH, the network’s native stablecoin. As of October 2026, validators run by the Hyper Foundation hold close to half of the active stake.

History and key dates

• 2023: Hyperliquid’s perpetual exchange goes live, self-funded by its team.
• 29 November 2024: HYPE genesis and airdrop.
• 18 February 2025: HyperEVM mainnet.
• 26 March 2025: JELLY manipulation; validators delist the market.
• September 2025: USDH stablecoin awarded to Native Markets.
• 13 October 2025: HIP-3 builder-deployed perpetuals on mainnet.
• November 2025: POPCAT manipulation causes a loss for the HLP vault.
• May 2026: HIP-4 outcome markets go live.

Security and risks

Zellic audited the Arbitrum bridge used for deposits, but no public audit of the core HyperCore or HyperBFT code is listed in the documentation. The risks to weigh:

• Validator centralization: a small validator set, with a large share run by the Foundation, can act quickly, as during the JELLY delisting.
• Market manipulation: thin markets have been squeezed several times (JELLY, XPL, POPCAT), with losses for the HLP vault.
• Leverage: liquidations happen automatically and can wipe out a position in minutes.
• Bridge and stablecoin risk: legacy bridge deposits and USDC itself depend on outside systems.
• Regulatory risk: perpetuals are restricted in many jurisdictions; check the terms that apply to you.

Our risk score is 3 out of 5: a busy, transparent onchain venue, but with concentrated validators, manipulation incidents and leverage.

How to use Hyperliquid safely

• Access the app only from app.hyperliquid.xyz and beware of fake HYPE claim pages.
• Use low leverage and isolated margin, and avoid illiquid markets.
• Understand that HLP deposits can lose money during manipulation events.
• Start with our DeFi guide if perpetual futures are new to you.