In the world of decentralized finance, Hyperliquid [HYPE] didn’t just join the party; it flipped the table over.
It’s not another trading platform, it’s a custom-built Layer 1 blockchain that runs with the speed of a centralized exchange while keeping your funds in your own wallet.
This blend of speed and security isn’t just working—it’s letting Hyperliquid bulldoze its competition and force everyone to ask what the future of decentralized trading even looks like.
Swallowing the market whole
Forget gradual growth. Hyperliquid has seized over 80% of the decentralized perpetuals market. To put that in perspective, the platform handled an absurd $248 billion in trading volume during May 2024 alone.
Even on a regular day, billions of dollars are flying across its order books. By July 2025, it had already processed over $150 billion for the month.
This surge makes its rivals look like they’re standing still. dYdX, once the undisputed leader, pulls in a respectable $310.95 million in a day on its chain, but its slice of the market is shrinking fast.
Other platforms like Aevo and GMX are barely on the same page, with daily volumes of about $31.2 million and $10.8 million.
The brains behind the machine
Hyperliquid is the creation of Jeff Yan and his Harvard classmate, known as “iliensinc.” They weren’t just building another crypto app; they wanted to fix a broken financial system.
Yan, a math and computer science grad, cut his teeth at the high-frequency trading firm Hudson River Trading.
That background in intense, high-speed finance gave him the blueprint for a decentralized exchange that could actually keep up.
When FTX imploded, it lit a fire under them. The disaster proved the desperate need for trading venues where users couldn’t be rugged.
This conviction drove them to build Hyperliquid with a simple rule: the user comes first.
In a move that shocked the industry, they turned down all venture capital money, funding the entire project themselves to ensure their goals would never diverge from their community’s.
HYPE: An economy for the users
The platform’s token, HYPE, is designed to share the spoils. With a hard cap of 1 billion tokens, its entire economic model is built to benefit the people actually using the platform.
Tellingly, zero tokens were set aside for private sales or VC firms, a bold statement in a world of insider deals.
Here’s how the tokens are split:
Early users who helped build the platform from the ground up received 31% in an airdrop. Another 38.89% is earmarked for future community rewards.
The core team gets 23.8%, but it’s locked for a year and vests slowly over time. The Hyper Foundation has a 6% budget for operations, and a small sliver is left for community grants and liquidity initiatives.
A large chunk of the platform’s trading fees gets pumped back into the ecosystem, used to buy HYPE tokens off the market and burn them. This creates a direct link: the more people trade, the scarcer the token becomes.
The rocky road to a $100 token
For HYPE to reach $100, Hyperliquid would need to become one of the biggest names in crypto. This would require everything to go right, while dodging a number of bullets.
What could make it happen:
- A Raging Bull Market: If Bitcoin blows past its old records in 2025 like some predict, the rising tide would lift all boats, including HYPE.
- Major Exchange Listings: Getting on Binance or Coinbase would throw HYPE in front of millions of new investors. But history shows these exchange listings often lead to a quick pump followed by an even quicker dump.
- An Explosion in Users: The platform’s points program and airdrop successfully attracted over 94,000 users. The real challenge is keeping them. So far, the smooth user experience seems to be working, but growth can’t stall.
- Nailing the Roadmap: Successfully launching new features like spot markets and the HyperEVM, a tool that lets other projects build on its blockchain, is non-negotiable for lasting success.
What could kill the dream:
- A Devastating Hack: As a young Layer 1, Hyperliquid’s code hasn’t endured the years of attacks that older chains have. Despite audits, a single undiscovered flaw could be catastrophic.
- The Regulatory Hammer: Hyperliquid operates without KYC, putting it squarely in the sights of global regulators. A crackdown, like the one the CFTC launched against other derivative protocols, could force it to adopt strict rules that kill its appeal.
- Network Stumbles and Centralization Fears: The platform is fast, but it has had moments of lag. Critics also point to the small number of validators that secure the network, arguing it’s a potential weak point.
- Airdrop Farmers Bailing: Attracting users with free money is easy. The real test is whether they stick around after the party’s over.
The tech that makes it possible
Hyperliquid’s power comes from its custom-built technology.
Its Layer 1 blockchain uses a consensus mechanism called HyperBFT, which can theoretically handle 200,000 orders every second and confirm them almost instantly.
This is what allows for a fully on-chain order book—a holy grail for trading transparency that makes it feel like you’re on a centralized exchange.
The platform also introduced native vault strategies, like the Hyperliquidity Provider (HLP) vault.
This feature lets everyday users act as market makers, pooling their funds to earn a cut of the platform’s trading fees, a role once reserved for big players.
What comes next for on-chain trading
The market for on-chain derivatives is heating up, with big money and renewed optimism flooding the crypto space.
Hyperliquid is leading the charge, proving that decentralized platforms can be faster and more efficient than their centralized rivals.
The road ahead is full of risks. But with its high-octane technology, user-focused economy, and obsessive focus on the trading experience, Hyperliquid has already forced its way to the top.
How it handles the pressure of being king will be one of the most important stories in crypto as the lines between centralized and decentralized finance fade away.
