An in-depth analysis of the Hyperliquid project

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Hyperliquid has rapidly risen to prominence in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, becoming a leader in the DeFi market in 2025 with its high-performance Layer 1 blockchain and innovative model focused on perpetual contract trading. The platform redefines the standards of decentralized trading with its exceptional trading volume, revenue performance, and technical architecture.

Business Performance: The frontrunner in the DeFi market

has strong revenue performance

In July 2025, Hyperliquid captured about 35% of the total revenue of blockchain protocols, ranking third in the industry behind stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle. Its 30-day revenue reached $95.63 million, and annualized revenue is expected to be as high as $1.167 billion. This achievement stems from its strong competitiveness in the perpetual contract trading market. Perpetual contracts, as highly leveraged, highly liquid financial instruments, attract a large number of professional traders and retail users, and Hyperliquid's low fees and high efficiency make it a preferred platform.

Trading Volume and Market Dominance

Hyperliquid dominates the decentralized perpetual contract exchange (DEX) market, with data from June 2025 showing a 24-hour trading volume market share of 63% and a perpetual contract market share of over 74%. The cumulative trading volume has exceeded $375 billion, and the total deposit size has exceeded $4.8 billion, reflecting the high user stickiness and market depth.

Its no-KYC (Know Your Customer) access mechanism, centralized exchange-like user interface, and low transaction costs attract traders worldwide. The platform supports high-frequency trading and complex order types (e.g., limit orders, stop orders), further solidifying its position in the specialized trading market.

Technical Core: Hyperliquid's Competitive Advantage

The success of Hyperliquid is inseparable from its underlying technical architecture, which is analyzed in depth from three aspects: blockchain design, token economy, and ecological expansion.

Hyperliquid L1 and HyperBFT consensus mechanism

Hyperliquid operates on a self-developed Layer 1 blockchain and uses the HyperBFT (Byzantine Fault Tolerance) consensus algorithm, optimized for high-frequency trading scenarios. The algorithm combines Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT) with efficient batch processing technology, capable of processing 200,000 orders per second with a median latency of just 0.2 seconds, comparable to centralized exchanges while retaining the transparency and security of decentralization.

The core strength of HyperBFT lies in its parallel transaction processing capabilities and low-latency order matching. The platform ensures fast execution and low slippage even in highly volatile markets through sharded order book management and on-chain settlement. Additionally, Hyperliquid adopts a gasless trading model, embedding fees into transaction spreads, significantly reducing user costs and enhancing the trading experience. This architecture is particularly suitable for the perpetual contract market's demanding requirements for real-time and throughput.

HYPE Token: The Backbone of the Economic Model

The HYPE token is the core driving force of the Hyperliquid ecosystem. Since the genesis airdrop in late 2024, the price of HYPE has risen from $3.9 to $41.05 in July 2025, with a market capitalization of approximately $7.22 billion, ranking 11th in the crypto market. HYPE is not only used to pay for transaction fee discounts and governance decisions (through the Hyperliquid Improvement Proposal, HIP) but will also support staking rewards in the future.

Hyperliquid's HIP-1 token listing mechanism further reinforces HYPE's value. The project team determines the token listing fee through market bidding (which has recently stabilized above $100,000), and all fees are used to buy back and burn HYPE, creating a deflationary effect. This mechanism not only enhances token scarcity but also ensures that platform revenue directly feeds back to the ecosystem, enhancing long-term economic sustainability. Hyperliquid's self-funded and venture capital rejection model further ensures that its economic model is centered on user interests.

HyperEVM: Towards an all-round DeFi ecosystem

Hyperliquid's upcoming HyperEVM, an Ethereum Virtual Machine compatible scaling layer, is currently in the testnet phase and supports Solidity smart contract development. More than 30 projects are already planned to be deployed on HyperEVM, including automated market makers (AMMs), lending protocols, and yield farming platforms. HyperEVM leverages the high throughput of Hyperliquid L1 to provide a low-cost, high-speed transaction experience that is more competitive with the congestion and high gas fees of the Ethereum mainnet.

HyperEVM's unique advantage lies in its native integration with the Hyperliquid perpetual contract marketplace. Developers can build innovative applications that combine derivatives trading, such as leveraged lending based on perpetual contracts or synthetic asset trading. This combination of "transactions + smart contracts" positions Hyperliquid poised to transform from a single perpetual contract platform to a comprehensive DeFi ecosystem, competing with Ethereum, Solana, and others.

Strategic Innovation: Differentiated Market Positioning

Hyperliquid's strategy focuses on the perpetual contract market, a segment that has become a popular track for crypto trading due to its high leverage and high liquidity. The platform's 74% market share in perpetual contracts far surpasses competitors such as dYdX and GMX, highlighting its precise market positioning. Perpetual contracts allow traders to hold positions indefinitely, making them suitable for the highly volatile crypto market, while Hyperliquid's low latency and deep liquidity make it a preferred choice for professional traders.

The platform's UX design borrows from centralized exchanges like Binance, offering an intuitive interface and robust order functionality while maintaining transparency in decentralization. The no-KYC requirement further lowers the barrier to entry, attracting over 185,000 unique users (as of the end of 2024). Through a differentiated strategy, Hyperliquid avoids direct competition with AMM-type DEXs (such as Uniswap) and focuses on high-frequency trading and derivatives markets, establishing unique competitive barriers.

HIP-1's token listing mechanism is another strategic highlight. Through market-based pricing, Hyperliquid ensures the quality of newly listed tokens and avoids the proliferation of illiquid assets. This mechanism not only enhances the credibility of the platform but also injects a stable revenue stream into the ecosystem and supports long-term development.

Future Potential Analysis

: Hyperliquid's future development blueprint is clear and ambitious. HyperEVM's mainnet launch, expected in 2026, will transform it from a single trading platform to a comprehensive DeFi ecosystem, supporting diverse applications from derivatives to lending. For example, HyperEVM-based protocols may launch innovative products that incorporate perpetual contracts, such as leveraged decentralized insurance or on-chain options markets.

The upcoming HIP-3 upgrade will introduce staking and lending features, further enriching the ecosystem. The staking mechanism will allow HYPE holders to participate in network security and earn yields, enhancing the token's long-term holding appeal. Lending protocols can support margin trading with low capital requirements, attracting more small and medium-sized traders. These expansions will allow Hyperliquid to capture a broader share of the DeFi market.

Additionally, Hyperliquid's high-performance architecture gives it potential to venture into emerging sectors such as real-world asset tokenization (RWA) and institutional-grade derivatives trading. As DeFi converges into traditional finance, its low-latency, high-throughput infrastructure will be a significant advantage for institutional users.