Hyperliquid's Price Drops 0.872% Amidst 80% Market Share Gain

Hyperliquid's latest price was $44.02, down 0.872% in the last 24 hours. Hyperliquid has emerged as a significant player in the decentralized derivatives market, capturing nearly 80% of the perpetual protocol market share. This rapid growth has positioned Hyperliquid as a major challenger to centralized derivatives platforms. Unlike many decentralized finance (DeFi) projects, Hyperliquid did not seek venture capital backing. Instead, it launched its native token, HYPE, directly on public markets, forcing all participants, including institutions, to buy at market prices. This approach has demonstrated confidence in the platform's organic growth and has attracted a wave of traders who might otherwise rely on centralized exchanges.

One of the key drivers of Hyperliquid's momentum has been its cross-chain functionality. This feature allows users to deposit assets from multiple blockchains, including Bitcoin, which has historically been a barrier for decentralized exchanges. This flexibility has made Hyperliquid particularly attractive to traders looking for seamless asset management across different chains. The platform's strong liquidity and reliability have further contributed to its appeal, making it a go-to destination for decentralized derivatives trading.

Hyperliquid's rise has also been marked by its increasing volume-to-Binance ratio, which has climbed to 13.6% from 8% at the start of the year. This means that Hyperliquid is processing more than one-tenth of Binance's derivatives activity, signaling a major shift in trader behavior. With over $200 billion in trading volume processed in recent months, Hyperliquid has shown that decentralized platforms can compete head-to-head with centralized exchanges when equipped with the right technology and user experience.

Arthur Hayes, the co-founder of BitMEX and now the co-founder and chief investment officer of crypto-focused venture capital firm Maelstrom, has highlighted Hyperliquid's potential. Hayes, known for inventing the perpetual swap at BitMEX, argues that Hyperliquid's HYPE token could rise more than 100-fold. He believes that when governments print too much money, currencies lose value, and ordinary savers are forced to speculate just to maintain their standard of living. For many, especially in emerging markets, the easiest way to save today is with stablecoins such as USDT and USDC. Once holding stablecoins, the most obvious place to put them to work is in crypto itself, leading straight to Hyperliquid.

Hayes points to execution as a key difference. He believes that Hyperliquid's small team, led by founder Jeff Yan, ships features faster than rivals with hundreds of employees. The platform feels as fast as Binance, but every step—trading, settlement, collateral management—happens transparently on-chain. Hayes calls Hyperliquid a "decentralized Binance," relying on stablecoins instead of banks for deposits, with everything recorded on its blockchain. Hyperliquid's HIP-3 upgrade also lets outside developers create entirely new markets that plug directly into its order book, turning it into a permissionless trading hub.

Maelstrom's model starts with a bold forecast: by 2028, the total value of stablecoins could reach $10 trillion. Applying a ratio from Binance's history, where daily trading volume has often equaled about 26.4% of the total stablecoin supply, Hyperliquid could see about $2.6 trillion in trades every day. With fees around 0.03% per trade, this works out to roughly $258 billion in annual revenues. Investors then discount those future revenues into today’s money to reflect risk and the time value of money. Using a 5% rate, this produces a present value of about $5.16 trillion. Stacking that against HYPE’s current fully diluted valuation of around $41 billion, Hayes’s model suggests a potential 126x upside.

21Shares AG has launched the first Hyperliquid ETP on SIX Swiss Exchange, offering institutional investors regulated access to the Hyperliquid protocol's native token HYPE. This ETP listing enhances institutional visibility for HYPE, potentially increasing investment inflows and reinforcing confidence in the Hyperliquid ecosystem. The ETP provides exposure without requiring crypto wallets or on-chain custody, making it an attractive option for institutional investors. Mandy Chiu of 21Shares describes Hyperliquid's growth and economics as compelling in the current environment. The listing boosts investor confidence and provides an institutional gateway into Hyperliquid, reflecting a shift towards increasing mainstream adoption of decentralized financial assets. With enhanced visibility in traditional markets, HYPE saw a price increase, offering insights into the financial implications and potential ripple effects on similar ETP products. Institutional investors gain a new tool for accessing derivatives through regulated products, affecting traditional finance and DeFi markets. Historical precedents indicate potential institutional inflows and increased public market liquidity, with the SIX Swiss Exchange approval ensuring institutional-grade standards are met, enhancing credibility.

Hyperliquid continues to solidify its position as a leading decentralized derivatives exchange, characterized by significant operational metrics and evolving tokenomics. As of August 2025, 333,772,999 HYPE tokens, representing 33.38% of the total supply, have been unlocked. The remaining 66.62% of HYPE tokens are scheduled for vesting release between 2027 and 2028.

The platform demonstrates substantial activity within the decentralized perpetual futures market. Recent analyses highlight key mechanisms underpinning the protocol's economic design. Features include its deflationary tokenomics model, where 97% of collected fees are burned. This mechanism, coupled with a substantial $1.3 billion Assistance Fund, contributes to the platform's overall valuation framework. Furthermore, Hyperliquid processed significant trading volumes in August 2025, including $357 billion in derivatives volume and $3 billion in spot trading activity, generating $105 million in fees directed towards its tokenomics mechanisms.

Hyperliquid's operational model, which merges the user experience and speed typical of centralized exchanges with the self-custody and transparency advantages of decentralized finance, has been a key driver of its market dominance. Over the past month, it reportedly handled volumes significantly exceeding those of its nearest competitor within the onchain perpetual futures sector. Its growth trajectory is marked by rapid expansion facilitated by a small team, achieving substantial market influence.

However, the platform recently encountered notable operational challenges. A large trader significantly impacted the value of futures contracts tied to the XPL token on August 27, 2025. This trader utilized substantial capital to acquire available futures contracts on the Hyperliquid order book, leading to a rapid, artificial inflation of the XPL perpetual futures price. This action resulted in an estimated $15 million profit for the trader while causing corresponding losses for others, particularly those who had entered short positions on the XPL perpetual market expecting to hedge their tokens acquired during an initial coin offering.

This incident has sparked criticism from affected users and market observers. Critiques focus on whether adequate safeguards exist to prevent such market distortions on Hyperliquid. Critics argued that the large trader specifically chose Hyperliquid over alternative exchanges perceived to have stronger protective mechanisms. Observers noted that newly introduced futures markets, particularly those for pre-launch tokens like XPL, carry inherent and heightened risks. Protocol representatives responded by stating that the platform functioned as designed during the incident, emphasizing the inherent unpredictability of such nascent futures markets. The event underscores the challenges faced by decentralized platforms in balancing market access, growth, and risk mitigation.