Hyperliquid News Today: Hyperliquid's HIP-3 Upgrade Challenges CEXs with Transparent, Builder-Driven Futures Markets

Hyperliquid has activated its Hyperliquid Improvement Proposal 3 (HIP-3) upgrade on October 13, 2025, enabling permissionless creation of perpetual futures markets on its blockchain. The protocol update allows developers to deploy decentralized perpetual exchanges (perp DEXs) on HyperCore by staking 500,000 HYPE tokens, a requirement designed to ensure market quality while decentralizing the listing process Hyperliquid Stats^[1]. The upgrade, confirmed by a Hyperliquid administrator in the project's Discord channel, introduces on-chain governance, smart contract support via HyperEVM, and safeguards such as validator slashing and open interest caps .

HIP-3 marks a structural shift from validator-controlled perps to builder-deployed markets, with deployers retaining up to 50% of trading fees while managing their own oracles, liquidity, and risk parameters Hyperliquid Stats^[1]. Developers must stake 500,000 HYPE tokens to launch a market, with additional assets requiring participation in 31-hour Dutch auctions. The staking requirement creates immediate on-chain demand for HYPE, potentially reducing circulating supply and enhancing token utility Coingabbar^[8].

The upgrade has already driven a 13% surge in HYPE's price to $42.13 within 24 hours, with total open interest on Hyperliquid remaining above $15 billion despite recent liquidation events Hyperliquid Stats^[1]. The HYPE token's market capitalization now exceeds $11.3 billion, supported by increased staking activity and buybacks totaling $106.5 million over the past month Hyperliquid Stats^[1]. Analysts note that HIP-3 could further compress HYPE supply as more developers lock tokens for market deployment Datawallet^[4].

Technical safeguards include validator slashing for malicious behavior and position limits to prevent excessive leverage. Deployers are also subject to a 7-day unstaking period during which validators can penalize bad actors HyperPC Blog^[3]. The integration with HyperEVM enables customizable orderbooks, margining systems, and settlement tools, supporting markets for crypto assets, equities, commodities, and prediction contracts Datawallet^[4].

Market dynamics are shifting as HIP-3 challenges centralized exchanges (CEXs). Developers have criticized CEX listing fees, which can range from 2–9% of token supply, while Hyperliquid's model allows builders to deploy markets at a fixed cost of 500,000 HYPE . The upgrade also aligns with Hyperliquid's transparency goals, as all trades, liquidations, and positions are publicly verifiable on-chain Yahoo Finance^[9].

Hyperliquid's founder, Jeff Yan, has highlighted the contrast between Hyperliquid's on-chain liquidations and alleged underreporting by CEXs. During the October 10–11 liquidation cascade, Hyperliquid processed $70 billion in volume without downtime, compared to technical disruptions reported on Binance . The debate underscores growing demand for transparent execution in derivatives trading.

Early adopters of HIP-3 include projects like Kinetiq, which offers liquid staking for HYPE tokens, and Ventuals, which is deploying pre-IPO equity markets on HyperCore Oak Research^[2]. These initiatives demonstrate the protocol's potential to expand beyond crypto into traditional asset classes.

The upgrade has also sparked speculation about HYPE's long-term trajectory. While short-term resistance is seen at $43.82, analysts project further gains if adoption accelerates. A sustained hold above $40 could validate bullish momentum, with some forecasts suggesting HYPE could reach $50 by year-end The Block^[10].

Hyperliquid's Total Value Locked (TVL) has surged to $5.5 billion post-upgrade, reflecting confidence in its decentralized infrastructure CoinJournal^[7]. However, the high staking requirement may create barriers for smaller projects, raising questions about accessibility in the DeFi ecosystem CoinJournal^[7].