Hibachi

Hibachi is one of the most intriguing pre-TGE perpetual futures DEXes we have tested in 2026. Built by a team with backgrounds at Citadel, Tower Research, IMC, Meta, Google, and Hashflow, this privacy-first exchange on Arbitrum and Base combines institutional-grade matching speed with zero-knowledge position encryption. We spent several weeks trading on Hibachi and came away impressed by the execution quality, but mindful of the platform's still-growing liquidity and community. Here is our comprehensive review.

What is Hibachi?

Hibachi is a decentralized perpetual futures exchange operating on Ethereum Layer 2 networks - specifically Arbitrum and Base. The platform launched in 2024 with a focus on solving two problems that plague existing perps DEXes: slow execution and position transparency.

The name might sound unusual for a trading platform, but the team behind it is anything but casual. Hibachi was founded by a group of engineers and quantitative traders from some of the most prestigious firms in traditional finance and tech - Citadel, Tower Research Capital, IMC Trading, Meta, Google, and the DeFi protocol Hashflow. This pedigree is reflected in the platform's architecture, which prioritizes execution speed and order matching quality in ways that feel informed by institutional trading systems.

In March 2025, Hibachi announced a $5 million seed funding round backed by Dragonfly Capital, Electric Capital, and Echo - three of the most respected venture firms in crypto. The funding was directed toward building out the platform's core technology, including its privacy layer and matching engine.

What makes Hibachi technically distinctive is its approach to privacy. In collaboration with Celestia (for modular data availability) and Succinct (for zero-knowledge proof infrastructure), Hibachi encrypts trading positions, account balances, and transaction records using ZK proofs. All operations are verified cryptographically and submitted to Celestia for encrypted data availability. The result is what the team calls "proofable trading" - your positions and balances remain private, but the platform maintains a publicly verifiable proof of solvency at all times.

As of early 2026, Hibachi supports 25 trading pairs of perpetual contracts, processes approximately $18 million in daily volume, and holds around $25 million in TVL. The platform also tracks approximately $204 million in 30-day trading volume according to aggregator data. These are solid numbers for a platform that has not yet launched a token - Hibachi operates an active points program that is widely expected to precede a token generation event.

Features and Functionality

Trading Interface

The Hibachi trading interface is clearly designed by people who have spent serious time on institutional trading desks. The layout follows the standard perpetual futures template - price chart in the center, order book on one side, order entry panel on the other, and open positions at the bottom - but the attention to detail is noticeably above average.

Charting is powered by TradingView integration with the full suite of technical indicators, drawing tools, and timeframe options. During our testing, chart updates were fast and responsive, with price ticks rendering in real-time without perceptible lag. The order book visualization is crisp, showing depth at each price level with clear bid-ask spread information.

The platform supports multiple order types including market, limit, stop-loss, and take-profit orders. This gives traders full control over their execution strategy - you can set up automated exit conditions when entering a position, which is something simpler DEXes sometimes lack. We found the order entry flow to be well-thought-out, with clear fee estimates and position details displayed before confirmation.

One observation from our testing: the interface feels fast. Hibachi claims sub-10 millisecond latency on its off-chain order matching, and while we cannot verify that exact figure from the user side, the perceived speed of order placement and fills was noticeably quicker than on many Arbitrum-based DEXes we have used.

Supported Markets

Hibachi currently offers 25 perpetual trading pairs. The selection covers the major crypto assets - BTC, ETH, SOL, and a curated set of popular altcoins. This is a smaller catalog than what you find on Hyperliquid (150+ pairs) or dYdX (180+ pairs), but it is deliberately curated.

The platform focuses on pairs where it can offer meaningful liquidity and tight spreads, rather than listing every trending token. For most active traders, the major pairs where the bulk of volume occurs are well-covered. But if you want to trade perpetuals on the latest memecoin or a small-cap altcoin, you will need to look elsewhere.

Leverage options are available on perpetual contracts, with the specific maximum varying by pair. The platform follows a risk-conscious approach where maximum leverage is lower on less liquid assets - a practice that protects both traders and the protocol from extreme volatility events.

Liquidity and Order Book Depth

With $25 million in TVL and $18 million in daily volume, Hibachi sits in the emerging-but-growing tier of perps DEXes. The 30-day volume figure of approximately $204 million suggests healthy trading activity relative to the platform's age.

Hibachi's matching engine aggregates liquidity from multiple sources: its own central limit order book, external market makers, and dedicated liquidity providers. The engine follows a price-time priority model - the best price gets filled first, and among equal prices, the earliest order gets priority. This is the same matching logic used by traditional financial exchanges, and it ensures fair execution order.

During our testing on BTC-PERP and ETH-PERP, we found spreads to be tight for a platform of this size. Market orders under $10,000 filled with minimal slippage - typically less than 0.05% on BTC. Limit orders at reasonable prices were filled within seconds during active trading hours.

However, the liquidity on mid-cap altcoin pairs was noticeably thinner. Larger orders on these pairs showed wider spreads and more slippage. This is expected for a pre-TGE platform that is still building its market maker relationships and liquidity incentive programs.

The off-chain matching with on-chain settlement model means that order matching happens at high speed (the claimed sub-10ms latency), while final settlement occurs on Arbitrum or Base for security. This hybrid approach gives traders the speed of a centralized exchange with the settlement guarantees of a blockchain.

Advanced Features

The privacy architecture is Hibachi's most distinctive advanced feature. Using zero-knowledge proofs in collaboration with Celestia and Succinct, the platform encrypts:

1. Trading positions (other users cannot see your position size or direction)
2. Account balances (your total equity is private)
3. Liquidation thresholds (nobody can target your liquidation price)

This privacy layer addresses one of the biggest criticisms of existing on-chain perpetual platforms. On fully transparent DEXes like Hyperliquid, every position is visible to the public. This creates opportunities for MEV bots to front-run large orders, for other traders to target known liquidation levels, and for competitors to monitor your trading strategy. Hibachi's approach eliminates these attack vectors while maintaining a publicly verifiable proof of solvency - meaning users can trust the platform is fully backed without seeing individual account details.

The points program is another key feature for early adopters. Points are earned based on trading volume, with higher multipliers during promotional periods and for certain trading pairs. Users who join through referral links earn 20% extra points on all qualifying activities. The points are widely expected to convert into tokens during a future TGE, making Hibachi one of the more attractive point-farming opportunities in the perps DEX space for 2026.

The proof-of-solvency mechanism deserves special mention. Unlike centralized exchanges where you must trust the exchange's reserves, Hibachi provides cryptographic proof that user funds are fully accounted for at all times. This is possible because the ZK proofs verify the mathematical correctness of all state transitions without revealing the underlying data. It is a meaningful step forward in the trustless trading paradigm.

Fees and Pricing

Fee Structure

Hibachi charges a 0.04% swap fee and a 0.02% protocol fee on perpetual futures trades, bringing the total to approximately 0.06% per trade. This positions Hibachi in the mid-range of perps DEX fees - cheaper than GMX (0.07%) but more expensive than Hyperliquid (0.02% taker) or Vertex (0.02% taker).

Gas fees depend on which network you trade on. On Arbitrum, gas costs approximately $0.10 per transaction. On Base, gas costs are slightly lower at around $0.05-$0.08 per transaction. Both are reasonable for the Ethereum L2 ecosystem, though not as cheap as Solana-based platforms or dedicated L1 chains.

The fee structure does not currently include a tiered system based on trading volume, which is something high-volume traders might miss. Platforms like Hyperliquid and dYdX offer progressively lower fees as your monthly volume increases, rewarding their most active users.

How Hibachi Fees Compare

Hibachi's fees are competitive within the Arbitrum ecosystem. Compared to GMX, which is the other major Arbitrum perps platform, Hibachi is cheaper on a percentage basis (0.06% vs 0.07%). But compared to platforms running their own Layer 1 chains (Hyperliquid, dYdX), Hibachi carries the additional burden of L2 gas costs.

The 20% extra points from referral links do not directly reduce fees, but they increase the value of the points you earn - which could translate into meaningful token value if and when a TGE occurs.

Real-World Cost Examples

Here is what trading on Hibachi actually costs in practice:

1. A $1,000 perpetual trade costs approximately $0.40 in swap fees plus $0.20 in protocol fees plus $0.10 gas. Total: about $0.70.
2. A $10,000 perpetual trade costs approximately $4.00 in swap fees plus $2.00 in protocol fees plus $0.10 gas. Total: about $6.10.
3. A $50,000 perpetual trade costs approximately $20.00 in swap fees plus $10.00 in protocol fees plus $0.10 gas. Total: about $30.10.

For an active day trader executing 20 trades of $5,000 each, the daily cost would be approximately $60 in trading fees plus $2.00 in gas. Total: $62.00. On Hyperliquid, the same activity costs about $20. On GMX, it runs roughly $70-$80 plus gas. So Hibachi falls in the middle - cheaper than the AMM-based platforms but more expensive than the dedicated L1 order books.

Security and Safety

Smart Contract Audits

Hibachi has been audited by CertiK, one of the largest and most well-known blockchain security firms. The audit, completed in April 2024, covered the core protocol smart contracts. CertiK has audited hundreds of DeFi protocols and maintains a publicly accessible leaderboard of audit reports, which adds a degree of accountability.

Having a CertiK audit is a positive signal, but it comes with caveats. CertiK has faced some criticism in the crypto community for the volume-based nature of their audit business, with questions about whether high throughput compromises thoroughness. That said, a CertiK audit is significantly better than no audit or an audit from an unknown firm. We would recommend that Hibachi pursue additional audits from other top firms - Trail of Bits, OpenZeppelin, or Spearbit - as the platform grows.

Security Track Record

Hibachi has not reported any security incidents, exploits, or loss of user funds since its 2024 launch. The platform is still relatively young, so the clean record should be viewed in that context - a two-year clean record is good, but it does not carry the same weight as, say, GMX's multi-year history of secure operation.

The hybrid architecture - off-chain matching with on-chain settlement - introduces a different risk profile compared to fully on-chain platforms. The off-chain component needs to be trusted for order matching fairness, while the on-chain component handles the actual custody and settlement of funds. This is a common design pattern used by dYdX (in its earlier versions), Vertex, and other order-book DEXes, and it has generally proven reliable.

The privacy layer using Celestia and Succinct adds complexity, and more complexity means a larger attack surface. However, the team's use of established ZK infrastructure from reputable partners mitigates some of this risk. The proof-of-solvency mechanism also provides an additional safety check that fully transparent platforms do not need but that privacy-focused platforms absolutely require.

User Protection Features

Hibachi currently does not have a bug bounty program, which is a notable gap. Bug bounties are an industry standard for DeFi protocols, and their absence means there is less incentive for white-hat security researchers to proactively find and report vulnerabilities. For a platform handling leveraged trading positions, this is a gap we hope will be addressed soon.

The code is also not open source, limiting external security review. Combined with the lack of a bug bounty, this means security assurance depends almost entirely on the CertiK audit and the team's internal practices.

On the positive side, the self-custodial architecture means users maintain control of their funds at all times. Settlements occur on Arbitrum or Base, both of which settle to Ethereum mainnet, providing Ethereum-level security for final state. And the proof-of-solvency mechanism adds a layer of trust that addresses one of the biggest concerns with privacy-focused exchanges - the worry that hidden balances might mask insolvency.

Overall, Hibachi's security profile is adequate for an early-stage platform with a credible team and VC backing. But it needs to improve - additional audits, a bug bounty program, and ideally some degree of open-sourcing would significantly strengthen user confidence.

Getting Started with Hibachi

Connecting Your Wallet

To start trading on Hibachi, visit hibachi.xyz and click "Connect Wallet." The platform supports Ethereum-compatible wallets including MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet-wallet), and WalletConnect-compatible options. Make sure your wallet is connected to either the Arbitrum (Chain ID 42161) or Base network, depending on which you prefer.

Arbitrum offers more trading pairs and deeper liquidity, while Base may offer slightly lower gas costs in some situations. You can switch between networks within the platform. The connection process is standard - approve the connection request in your wallet, and you are ready to deposit.

Making Your First Deposit

You need funds on Arbitrum or Base to trade on Hibachi. The collateral requirements are:

1. Arbitrum: USDT as trading collateral, plus some ETH for gas fees
2. Base: USDC as trading collateral, plus some ETH for gas fees

If your funds are on Ethereum mainnet, you can bridge to Arbitrum using the official Arbitrum bridge at bridge.arbitrum.io, or use third-party services like deBridge or LayerSwap for faster transfers. Bridging typically takes 5-15 minutes from Ethereum mainnet.

If you already have funds on Arbitrum from using other DeFi protocols (like GMX, Aave, or Uniswap), you simply need to ensure you have USDT and ETH available. We recommend keeping at least 0.005 ETH reserved for gas - that will cover dozens of transactions at current Arbitrum gas rates.

Placing Your First Trade

Once your wallet is connected and funded, navigate to the trading interface. Select a perpetual pair from the market list - BTC-PERP or ETH-PERP are good starting points for your first trade.

Choose your order type: Market (instant execution at best available price), Limit (executes when price reaches your level), Stop-Loss (closes position if price moves against you), or Take-Profit (closes position at your target price). For a first trade, a market order with low leverage is the simplest option.

Set your position size and leverage. Enter the dollar amount you want to trade and select your leverage multiplier. Review the displayed information - estimated entry price, liquidation price, margin requirement, and fee breakdown. Confirm the trade and approve the transaction in your wallet.

The order is matched by the off-chain engine and settled on-chain within seconds. Your open position appears in the "Positions" panel at the bottom of the screen, where you can monitor P&L, add stop-loss or take-profit orders, and close when ready.

User Experience

Desktop Platform

Hibachi's desktop experience is polished and professional. The web application loads quickly and renders smoothly on modern browsers. The dark-themed interface with clean typography and well-organized panels creates an environment that is comfortable for extended trading sessions.

The TradingView chart integration is well-implemented, with full access to technical analysis tools. The order book visualization updates in real-time without visual glitches. Position management is handled through a clear panel that shows all open positions, pending orders, and trade history.

One thing we appreciated is the speed. Actions feel responsive - clicking a button results in near-instant feedback, and order confirmations come through quickly. This is partly due to the sub-10ms off-chain matching engine and partly due to good front-end engineering.

The platform lacks some features that power users might want - custom panel layouts, multi-chart views, programmable alerts, and API documentation for algorithmic traders. These are features that more mature platforms like Hyperliquid and dYdX offer. For manual traders, the current interface is more than sufficient, but algo traders will find the tooling limited.

Mobile Experience

Hibachi does not currently offer a dedicated mobile application. The web interface is responsive and usable on mobile browsers, but it is not optimized for the mobile form factor. Charts and order books are compressed, and the overall experience is functional but not ideal for phone-based trading.

This is a meaningful gap, especially when competitors like HoldStation have built excellent mobile-first experiences. For traders who primarily use their phones, Hibachi's mobile story is a weakness. We expect this to improve as the platform matures, but as of early 2026, desktop is the recommended way to use Hibachi.

Customer Support

Hibachi provides support through Discord, Twitter, and documentation. The Discord server is active but still relatively small compared to major DEXes. During our testing, we received a response to a support question within about four hours, which is reasonable for a smaller team.

The documentation at docs.hibachi.xyz covers the essential topics - how to connect, how to trade, fee structures, and the points program. It is adequate but not as comprehensive as the docs from dYdX or Hyperliquid, which include detailed API references, market-making guides, and advanced trading tutorials.

The team has a presence on Twitter (now X) where they share updates and engage with the community. For a pre-TGE platform, the communication cadence is good - regular updates about new features, partnerships, and market milestones keep the community informed.

Hibachi vs Competitors

Hibachi vs Hyperliquid: Hyperliquid is the clear market leader for perps DEX trading in 2026. It dominates on volume, liquidity, pair count, and fees. Hibachi cannot compete on any of these raw metrics. Where Hibachi differentiates is through privacy - ZK-encrypted positions and balances offer genuine protection against front-running, liquidation hunting, and position surveillance that Hyperliquid's fully transparent order book does not provide. For traders who manage significant capital and do not want their positions visible to the world, Hibachi offers something Hyperliquid fundamentally does not.

Hibachi vs dYdX: dYdX has a longer track record, deeper liquidity, more pairs, and open-source code. It is the more mature and established choice. Hibachi's advantages are its privacy features and its pre-TGE status (meaning point farming for a potential airdrop). dYdX charges a slightly higher taker fee (0.05% vs 0.04%). For traders prioritizing established reliability, dYdX wins. For those seeking privacy and early-adopter opportunities, Hibachi is more interesting.

Hibachi vs GMX: GMX and Hibachi are both on Arbitrum but use fundamentally different models. GMX relies on AMM-style liquidity with oracle pricing, while Hibachi uses a central limit order book with off-chain matching. GMX has dramatically more liquidity ($500M+ TVL) and a longer track record. Hibachi offers lower fees (0.06% vs 0.07%), more precise order types (limit, stop-loss, take-profit), and privacy. GMX is better for zero-slippage execution on supported pairs. Hibachi is better for order-book precision and position privacy.

Hibachi vs Vertex: Vertex is the most direct competitor - also an order-book DEX on Arbitrum with competitive fees (0.02% taker). Vertex has significantly more volume and liquidity, plus a live token (VRTX). Hibachi counters with its privacy features and the pre-TGE farming opportunity. On pure trading metrics, Vertex is the stronger platform today. But Hibachi's ZK privacy and proof-of-solvency architecture give it a technical moat that Vertex lacks.

Who Should Use Hibachi?

Hibachi has a clear target audience, and it is not trying to be everything to everyone.

Best for:

1. Professional and experienced traders who value position privacy and protection from front-running
2. Point farmers who want to accumulate pre-TGE points ahead of a potential token launch
3. Arbitrum and Base ecosystem users who want an order-book perps DEX on familiar networks
4. Traders who prefer a clean, institutional-quality interface with advanced order types
5. Users concerned about MEV and liquidation hunting on fully transparent platforms

Not ideal for:

1. Beginners who need onboarding assistance and simple interfaces
2. Mobile-first traders who require a dedicated app
3. Traders who need 100+ pairs and exotic altcoin perpetuals
4. Users who insist on open-source code and established bug bounty programs
5. High-frequency traders who need the absolute lowest fees (Hyperliquid or Vertex are cheaper)

Hibachi is essentially a bet on privacy becoming a major differentiator in the perps DEX market. If you believe - as many institutional traders do - that position transparency is a genuine problem, then Hibachi is building the right solution with the right team.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Hibachi and how does it work?

Hibachi is a privacy-first decentralized perpetual futures exchange on Arbitrum and Base. It uses an off-chain central limit order book for fast matching (sub-10ms latency) with on-chain settlement for security. Positions and balances are encrypted using zero-knowledge proofs in collaboration with Celestia and Succinct, giving traders privacy while maintaining verifiable proof of solvency.

What are the trading fees on Hibachi?

Hibachi charges a 0.04% swap fee and a 0.02% protocol fee per trade, totaling approximately 0.06%. Gas fees on Arbitrum are around $0.10 per transaction. This makes Hibachi cheaper than GMX (0.07%) but more expensive than Hyperliquid (0.02%) or Vertex (0.02%).

Is Hibachi safe to use?

Hibachi has been audited by CertiK, covering its core protocol smart contracts. The platform uses self-custodial architecture with on-chain settlement on Arbitrum and Base. It does not currently have a bug bounty program or open-source code, which are gaps. No security incidents have been reported. The team is backed by Dragonfly Capital and Electric Capital, and its proof-of-solvency mechanism provides verifiable assurance that user funds are fully backed.

Does Hibachi have a token?

Not yet. As of early 2026, Hibachi operates a points program that rewards trading activity and referrals. Points are expected to play a role in a future token generation event. Using a referral link provides 20% extra points on qualifying activities. The pre-TGE status makes Hibachi one of the more popular point-farming platforms in the perps DEX space.

How does Hibachi's privacy work?

Hibachi encrypts trading positions, account balances, and transaction records using zero-knowledge proofs. This means other market participants cannot see your position size, direction, leverage, or liquidation threshold. The data is submitted to Celestia for encrypted data availability, and all operations are cryptographically verified. The platform maintains a public proof of solvency so users can trust the system is fully backed without seeing individual accounts.

Which blockchains does Hibachi support?

Hibachi currently operates on Arbitrum and Base, both Ethereum Layer 2 networks. On Arbitrum, USDT is used as trading collateral. On Base, USDC is used. Both networks settle to Ethereum mainnet, providing Ethereum-level security guarantees. Users need ETH on their chosen network to cover gas fees.

Who is behind Hibachi?

Hibachi was founded by a team from Citadel, Tower Research Capital, IMC Trading, Meta, Google, and Hashflow. The platform raised $5 million in seed funding from Dragonfly Capital, Electric Capital, and Echo in March 2025. The team's traditional finance and tech backgrounds are reflected in the institutional-grade matching engine and execution quality.

How does Hibachi compare to Hyperliquid?

Hyperliquid dominates perps DEX trading with billions in daily volume, 150+ pairs, and the lowest fees in the market. Hibachi is much smaller but offers something Hyperliquid does not - ZK-encrypted position privacy. For most retail traders, Hyperliquid is the better general-purpose choice. For traders managing significant capital who want to hide their positions from public view, Hibachi addresses a genuine need.

Final Verdict

Hibachi earns an overall rating of 7.0 out of 10 in our assessment. It is a well-built platform with a clear vision, strong team, and credible VC backing, but it is still early in its growth journey.

The positives are real. The matching engine is fast - execution feels closer to a CEX than most DEXes we have tested. The ZK privacy features are a genuine innovation, not a marketing gimmick. The CertiK audit provides baseline security assurance. The fee structure at 0.06% total is competitive for an Arbitrum-based platform. And the pre-TGE points program creates a compelling incentive for early adopters.

The weaknesses are also real. Liquidity at $25 million TVL is modest. The 25 trading pairs limit your options. There is no mobile app. No bug bounty program. Closed-source code. And the community, while growing, is still small compared to established platforms.

Hibachi is at an interesting inflection point. If the team delivers on their privacy vision, expands liquidity through the token launch and market maker partnerships, and adds the missing security features (bug bounty, additional audits), this platform has the potential to become the go-to exchange for privacy-conscious perps traders. The institutional pedigree and VC backing give us confidence they have the resources to execute.

Our recommendation: Hibachi is worth using for experienced traders who appreciate position privacy and want to accumulate pre-TGE points. Start with small positions on major pairs where liquidity is strongest. Use the referral link for 20% extra points. Keep the bulk of your active trading capital on more liquid platforms like Hyperliquid or dYdX, and use Hibachi as a complementary venue for trades where privacy matters most.