Hyperliquid

Hyperliquid has grown from a promising perpetual futures DEX into one of the most dominant trading platforms in all of crypto. In 2026, it remains the top choice for on-chain derivatives trading, processing billions in daily volume with fees that undercut nearly every competitor. But is the hype still justified? We spent months testing every corner of this platform, from its zero-gas-fee trading engine to its expanding HyperEVM ecosystem, and came away mostly impressed - though not without reservations.

What is Hyperliquid?

Hyperliquid is a decentralized perpetual futures exchange that runs on its own purpose-built Layer 1 blockchain. Founded by Jeff Yan and a team of quantitative traders, the platform launched in 2023 with a simple but ambitious goal: build an on-chain exchange that feels as fast as a centralized one. That goal has been largely achieved.

The Hyperliquid L1 uses a custom consensus mechanism called HyperBFT, optimized specifically for financial transactions. The chain can process over 100,000 orders per second with sub-second finality, meaning your trades confirm almost instantly. Every order, cancellation, and liquidation happens fully on-chain, which sets Hyperliquid apart from hybrid solutions that match orders off-chain.

In 2024, Hyperliquid exploded in popularity thanks to a generous points program that culminated in one of the largest airdrops in DeFi history. The HYPE token launched in November 2024, and the platform has not slowed down since. By the end of 2025, Hyperliquid had processed over $2.6 trillion in cumulative volume - more than Coinbase handled in the same period. The user base grew from around 300,000 to 1.4 million active traders.

The launch of HyperEVM in February 2025 marked a major turning point. This Ethereum Virtual Machine integration brought general-purpose programmability to the Hyperliquid L1, allowing developers to deploy Solidity smart contracts directly on the chain. Since then, the ecosystem has expanded beyond just perpetuals into spot trading, lending protocols, launchpads, and even NFT projects. Cross-chain spot asset bridging through Unit has processed over $761 million in native asset inflows, making Hyperliquid a genuine hub for BTC, ETH, and SOL trading.

More recently, HIP-4 Outcome Trading launched in February 2026, introducing prediction markets and options-style derivatives to the platform. Hyperliquid also became the first perp DEX to pursue a public listing through a SPAC merger, with Hyperliquid Strategy (PURR) acquiring 5 million HYPE tokens for $129.5 million. These moves signal that the team has serious ambitions beyond just being a trading venue.

Features and Functionality

Trading Interface

The Hyperliquid trading interface is clean, responsive, and clearly designed by people who actually trade. We found the layout intuitive from the first session. The main screen presents your order entry panel on the left, a full-featured TradingView chart in the center, the order book on the right, and your positions and order history below. It follows the standard professional trading layout, but the execution speed is where it truly shines.

Order types include market, limit, stop-limit, stop-market, take-profit, and trailing stop orders. You can set reduce-only orders and choose between good-til-canceled or immediate-or-cancel time-in-force options. Advanced traders will appreciate the TWAP (time-weighted average price) execution feature for scaling into or out of larger positions without moving the market.

Charting is powered by TradingView integration, so you get the full suite of technical indicators, drawing tools, and timeframes you would expect from any professional platform. We found chart loading times to be exceptionally quick, with no lag even when switching between multiple pairs rapidly.

One thing to know: the interface does not hold your hand. There are no flashy tutorials or gamified elements. If you are new to derivatives trading, the learning curve might feel steep. But for experienced traders, this is a positive - everything is exactly where you expect it to be, and nothing gets in the way.

Supported Markets

Hyperliquid supports over 150 perpetual futures markets, spanning major cryptocurrencies like BTC and ETH down to mid-cap and small-cap altcoins. The platform has been consistently adding new markets, and the introduction of HIP-3 in 2025 enabled permissionless perpetual listings, meaning new tokens can get perp markets without requiring approval from the core team.

Maximum available leverage varies by market. Major pairs like BTC and ETH support up to 50x, while smaller, more volatile assets may be capped at 20x or lower. This tiered approach makes sense from a risk management perspective, though traders coming from platforms that offer 100x on everything may find it limiting.

With the launch of HyperEVM, spot trading has also become available. Unit bridge has facilitated over $16 billion in spot trading volume, with roughly $8 billion in BTC and $5 billion in ETH. The spot product is still maturing, but having both perpetuals and spot on the same chain creates useful composability.

Beyond crypto, Hyperliquid made headlines in early 2026 when commodities trading - particularly gold and silver perpetuals - became a significant volume driver. On February 5, 2026, the platform generated a record $6.84 million in daily revenue, much of it driven by metals trading. This diversification into non-crypto assets is a promising direction.

Liquidity and Order Book Depth

Liquidity is one of Hyperliquid's strongest selling points. With a TVL of $2.5 billion and daily trading volume regularly exceeding $8 billion, the order books are deep enough for most traders to execute large orders without significant slippage.

The HLP vault (Hyperliquidity Provider) is the backbone of platform liquidity. Users deposit USDC into HLP, which then acts as a market maker across all trading pairs. This vault takes the opposite side of trades when needed and earns fees for doing so. Historically, HLP has been profitable, though it carries risk - depositors share in both profits and losses of the market-making activity.

In our testing, BTC/USD spreads on Hyperliquid were consistently tight, often just $1-2 on a $95,000+ asset. ETH/USD spreads were similarly competitive. For mid-cap altcoins, spreads widen predictably, but they remain competitive with centralized exchanges for the most liquid pairs. We placed several market orders in the $10,000-$50,000 range and experienced minimal slippage on major pairs.

Advanced Features

Beyond basic trading, Hyperliquid offers several features that distinguish it from competitors.

Vaults allow users to either deposit into HLP for passive market-making returns or create their own strategy vaults that others can invest in. This creates a mini ecosystem of on-chain hedge funds, where vault managers can earn performance fees from their strategies.

Staking HYPE tokens secures the L1 network and earns staking rewards. As of 2026, the validator set has been expanding, with permissionless staking opening up to more participants.

HyperEVM DApps represent the growing ecosystem built on top of the chain. Lending protocols, DEX aggregators, yield optimizers, and other DeFi primitives are being built natively on Hyperliquid, creating a composable financial stack.

Portfolio Margin entered pre-alpha access in late 2025, allowing sophisticated traders to use cross-collateralization across positions for more capital-efficient trading.

The HYPE burn fund uses protocol revenue to buy back and burn HYPE tokens. On that record revenue day in February 2026, $5.25 million of the $6.84 million in revenue was used for buybacks and burns, creating direct value accrual for token holders.

Fees and Pricing

Fee Structure

Hyperliquid's fee structure is one of its biggest competitive advantages. The base fee for taker orders is just 0.025%, with maker orders also at 0.025%. However, the real fee schedule is more nuanced.

For perpetuals trading, the standard taker fee starts at 0.035% and the maker fee at 0.01%, with rates decreasing as your trailing 14-day volume increases. High-volume traders can achieve taker fees as low as 0.0175% and maker rebates of -0.0005%, meaning you actually get paid to provide liquidity through limit orders at the highest tier.

Critically, there are zero gas fees on Hyperliquid. Every trade, every order placement, every cancellation - all free of gas costs. This is possible because the L1 is purpose-built for trading and subsidizes transaction costs through protocol revenue. For active traders who place and cancel dozens of orders per day, the gas savings alone can be substantial compared to trading on Ethereum L1 or even L2s like Arbitrum.

The only cost to be aware of outside of trading fees is the bridging cost. Moving USDC from Arbitrum to Hyperliquid L1 incurs a small Arbitrum gas fee, typically under $0.50. Withdrawals back to Arbitrum are also subject to a small fee.

How Hyperliquid Fees Compare

Hyperliquid sits among the cheapest options for taker fees, beaten only by Vertex on base rates. However, Hyperliquid's zero gas fees and deep liquidity mean the total effective cost of trading is often lower in practice. On GMX, the spread plus execution fees can add up quickly, especially on less liquid pairs.

Real-World Cost Examples

To put these fees in perspective, here are some concrete trading cost scenarios on Hyperliquid:

Example 1: Opening a $10,000 BTC long position Taker fee: $10,000 x 0.025% = $2.50. Gas fee: $0.00. Total cost: $2.50. On dYdX, the same trade would cost $5.00 in taker fees. On GMX, you might pay $5.00-$7.00 plus gas.

Example 2: A day trader executing 20 round-trip trades of $5,000 each Total volume: $200,000. Hyperliquid cost: $200,000 x 0.025% = $50 in taker fees, $0 in gas. On dYdX: $100 in fees. On an L2 DEX with $0.10 gas per trade: an additional $4.00 in gas fees.

Example 3: A high-volume trader doing $5 million monthly At the volume-discounted taker rate of approximately 0.02%, the monthly cost would be around $1,000. A comparable volume on dYdX at 0.04% would be $2,000. The annual savings of roughly $12,000 is meaningful for professional traders.

Security and Safety

Smart Contract Audits

Hyperliquid has undergone two major audits. Zellic audited the core protocol and L1 in March 2024, focusing on the trading engine, order matching, and liquidation mechanisms. Informal Systems audited the consensus mechanism in June 2024, verifying the safety and liveness properties of HyperBFT.

While two audits from reputable firms is a reasonable start, some users have noted that the platform could benefit from additional audits, especially given the rapid pace of development. The HyperEVM launch and subsequent protocol upgrades have introduced new code that, as of this writing, has not undergone the same level of external scrutiny.

Security Track Record

We need to address the elephant in the room: the JELLY exploit of March 2025. A sophisticated attacker manipulated the price of the JellyJelly memecoin across multiple exchanges, creating a position that threatened to drain approximately $12 million from the HLP vault. The attacker used three accounts to create opposing positions, then pumped the token price 429% to force the HLP vault to absorb a massive losing short position.

The Hyperliquid team responded by having validators rapidly delist the JELLY token and settling all positions at the attacker's entry price ($0.0095) rather than the manipulated market price ($0.50). The attacker still managed to withdraw $6.26 million before withdrawals were frozen.

This incident raised serious questions about decentralization. The ability of validators to delist a token in minutes and settle at arbitrary prices demonstrated a level of centralized control that contradicted the platform's decentralized branding. Bitget CEO Gracy Chen criticized the response as "immature, unethical, and unprofessional," and some commentators drew uncomfortable comparisons to FTX-era practices.

To be fair, the team acted to protect HLP depositors from catastrophic losses, and no user funds were lost outside of the attacker's positions. The protocol has since implemented improved safeguards including open interest caps on low-liquidity tokens and better oracle mechanisms. But the incident remains a valid concern for anyone evaluating the platform's trust profile.

User Protection Features

Hyperliquid employs multisig security for critical protocol operations. The platform runs a $2,000,000 bug bounty program, one of the larger bounties in DeFi, incentivizing white-hat hackers to report vulnerabilities responsibly.

The validator set, while growing, remains relatively small compared to established L1 chains like Ethereum or Cosmos Hub. As of early 2026, the permissionless validator set is expanding, but the network does not yet have the same level of decentralization as chains with hundreds of validators.

One important caveat: Hyperliquid's codebase is closed-source. This means independent security researchers cannot review the underlying code without participating in the bug bounty program. For a protocol managing billions in TVL, the lack of open-source transparency is a notable trade-off. The team has cited competitive reasons for keeping the code proprietary, but it does require users to place more trust in the team and auditors than a fully open-source protocol would.

Getting Started with Hyperliquid

Connecting Your Wallet

Getting started with Hyperliquid is relatively simple. Visit app.hyperliquid.xyz and click the "Connect" button in the top right corner. The platform supports MetaMask, WalletConnect, Coinbase Wallet, and several other popular wallet options. Once connected, your Ethereum wallet address is linked to your Hyperliquid account.

No KYC (Know Your Customer) verification is required since Hyperliquid is a decentralized protocol. You connect, deposit, and trade - that is it. This permissionless access is one of the key advantages of DEX trading over centralized exchanges.

Making Your First Deposit

Hyperliquid requires USDC as collateral for trading. You need to bridge USDC from Arbitrum to the Hyperliquid L1. Here is the process:

1. Make sure you have USDC on Arbitrum (you can bridge from Ethereum mainnet to Arbitrum first if needed)
2. On the Hyperliquid deposit page, enter the amount of USDC you want to bridge
3. Approve the USDC spending in your wallet
4. Confirm the bridge transaction
5. Wait approximately 1-2 minutes for the funds to arrive on Hyperliquid L1

The bridging process is simple but does require that initial step of getting USDC onto Arbitrum. If you are coming from a centralized exchange, you can withdraw USDC directly to your Arbitrum wallet address to save on fees.

Placing Your First Trade

Once your USDC is deposited, you can start trading immediately. Select your desired market from the pair selector (BTC-USD is a good starting point), choose your position size, set your desired leverage using the leverage slider, and select your order type. For your first trade, a simple market order is the fastest way to get a feel for the execution speed.

We recommend starting with lower leverage (3-5x) until you are comfortable with the interface and understand how perpetual funding rates work. Remember that with perpetual contracts, you pay or receive a funding rate every hour, depending on whether you are long or short and the current market conditions.

User Experience

Desktop Platform

The desktop web application is where Hyperliquid truly excels. The interface loads quickly, charts are responsive, and order execution feels instantaneous. We experienced zero downtime during our months of testing, even during periods of extreme market volatility when other DEXes have struggled.

The platform offers dark mode by default (thankfully), and the layout can be customized to some degree. You can resize the chart and order book panels, though the customization options are not as extensive as some dedicated desktop trading applications. The performance metrics displayed in real-time - showing block times, pending transactions, and system throughput - are a nice transparency touch.

One area where Hyperliquid falls short of some competitors is in social and copy-trading features. There is no built-in leaderboard for following other traders' strategies, though third-party tools like Hypurrscan provide some of this functionality.

Mobile Experience

Hyperliquid does not have an official native mobile app, but the web application is mobile-responsive. Third-party apps like Stack (available on both iOS and Android) and OneShot (iOS) provide dedicated mobile interfaces for Hyperliquid trading.

In our testing, the Stack app performed well for monitoring positions and executing quick trades on the go. The notification system is solid, alerting you to fills, liquidation warnings, and funding rate changes. However, for detailed analysis and chart-heavy trading sessions, the desktop experience is significantly better.

The lack of an official mobile app is something the team should address. While third-party solutions fill the gap, an official app would provide more consistent quality and security assurances.

Customer Support

Customer support happens primarily through Discord, which is active and generally responsive. The community moderators handle basic questions quickly, and team members are present for more technical issues. Documentation is available through the Hyperliquid Gitbook, which covers the basics well but could be more comprehensive on advanced topics.

There is no live chat or ticket-based support system. If you encounter a critical issue with your account or funds, Discord is your main avenue for resolution. For a platform handling billions in daily volume, this is an area that could benefit from more structure.

Hyperliquid vs Competitors

Hyperliquid vs dYdX: Both platforms run on their own L1 chains with order book-based trading and zero gas fees. Hyperliquid wins convincingly on volume, liquidity, and fees. dYdX counters with stronger decentralization credentials (open-source code, larger validator set) and more trading pairs (200+). If low fees and deep liquidity are your priority, Hyperliquid is the better choice. If decentralization principles matter to you, dYdX makes a stronger case.

Hyperliquid vs GMX: These are fundamentally different architectures. GMX uses an AMM model on Arbitrum, which means no order book and different trade-off profiles. GMX offers up to 100x leverage and has a strong track record for BTC and ETH trades, but its limited pair selection (around 30 assets) and higher effective fees make it less attractive for active traders. Hyperliquid is the clear winner for anyone trading more than a few times per week.

Hyperliquid vs Vertex: Vertex offers slightly lower base taker fees (0.02% vs 0.025%) and runs on Arbitrum, avoiding the need to bridge to a separate chain. However, Vertex's liquidity and volume are a fraction of Hyperliquid's, meaning larger orders may face more slippage. For small to medium traders who prefer the Arbitrum ecosystem, Vertex is a solid choice. For serious volume, Hyperliquid remains superior.

Hyperliquid vs Aster: Aster emerged as a major competitor in 2025, capturing significant market share through aggressive marketing and multi-chain deployment. Aster offers up to 1001x leverage and lower base fees (0.02%), but its relatively short track record and heavy reliance on Binance ecosystem connections introduce different risk considerations. We cover Aster in detail in our dedicated review.

Who Should Use Hyperliquid?

Hyperliquid is best suited for:

1. Active perpetual futures traders who execute multiple trades daily and want the lowest possible fees with zero gas costs
2. Professional and algorithmic traders who need sub-second execution and deep order book liquidity
3. DeFi-native users who want on-chain transparency without sacrificing trading performance
4. Yield seekers who want to earn returns through HLP vault deposits or HYPE staking
5. Builders looking to develop DeFi applications on a high-performance L1 through HyperEVM

Hyperliquid may not be ideal for:

1. Complete beginners to derivatives trading, as the interface assumes prior knowledge
2. Users who prioritize open-source transparency, since the code is proprietary
3. Traders who need very high leverage beyond 50x, as platforms like GMX and Aster offer more
4. Users who dislike bridging, since depositing requires moving USDC through Arbitrum to the Hyperliquid L1
5. Spot-only traders who want a mature spot trading ecosystem (though this is improving rapidly)

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the HLP vault and how does it work?

The HLP (Hyperliquidity Provider) vault is Hyperliquid's native liquidity mechanism. Users deposit USDC into the vault, which acts as a market maker across all trading pairs on the platform. Depositors share in the profits and losses of this market-making activity. Historically, HLP has been net profitable due to the platform's high volume, but returns vary and losses are possible during extreme market events.

Is Hyperliquid safe after the JELLY incident?

The March 2025 JELLY exploit exposed real concerns about centralization and risk management. However, the team has since implemented improved safeguards including open interest caps on low-liquidity tokens, better oracle mechanisms, and expanded validator participation. No user funds were permanently lost (outside of the attacker's seized positions). The platform has processed hundreds of billions in volume since the incident without further exploits, but users should remain aware of the centralization trade-offs.

What are the real fees on Hyperliquid?

The base taker fee is 0.025% and the maker fee is 0.025%, with volume-based discounts available. High-volume traders can achieve taker fees as low as 0.0175% and even earn maker rebates. There are absolutely no gas fees on any transaction within the platform. The only external cost is the small Arbitrum gas fee when bridging USDC to and from the Hyperliquid L1.

How does Hyperliquid compare to centralized exchanges?

In our experience, Hyperliquid's execution speed and order book depth rival major centralized exchanges for most trading pairs. The fees are competitive with or lower than CEX maker-taker rates. The main advantages of Hyperliquid over CEXes are self-custody of funds, no KYC requirements, and full on-chain transparency. The main disadvantages are the bridging requirement, narrower asset selection compared to top CEXes, and the lack of fiat on-ramps.

What is HyperEVM?

HyperEVM is an Ethereum Virtual Machine implementation built directly into the Hyperliquid L1. Launched in February 2025, it allows developers to deploy Solidity smart contracts on the same chain as the trading engine. This enables DeFi protocols like lending, DEX aggregators, and yield strategies to be built natively on Hyperliquid, creating a composable financial ecosystem. HyperEVM uses a dual-block architecture for high throughput.

Can I trade on Hyperliquid from the US?

Hyperliquid is a decentralized protocol with no KYC requirements, so there are no explicit geographic restrictions built into the interface. However, US residents should be aware that trading perpetual futures on an unregulated platform may carry legal and tax implications. We recommend consulting with a financial advisor about the regulatory status in your jurisdiction.

What happened with the HYPE token airdrop?

The HYPE token was airdropped in November 2024 to early users based on their trading activity and accumulated points. It was one of the largest DeFi airdrops by value, with many active traders receiving five-figure and six-figure allocations. The token has a total supply of 1,000,000,000 HYPE with approximately 333,000,000 in circulation. A second community airdrop (Season 2) is planned for 2026 to reward continued platform participation.

Does Hyperliquid have a mobile app?

Hyperliquid does not have an official native mobile app. The web platform at app.hyperliquid.xyz is mobile-responsive and functional on phone browsers. Third-party apps like Stack (iOS and Android) and OneShot (iOS) provide dedicated mobile trading interfaces with push notifications and optimized layouts. These work well for position management and quick trades.

Final Verdict

Hyperliquid earns its reputation as the leading perpetual futures DEX in 2026. The combination of zero gas fees, ultra-low trading fees (0.025% taker), sub-second execution, and deep liquidity creates a trading experience that genuinely rivals centralized exchanges. The expanding HyperEVM ecosystem adds long-term value beyond just being a trading venue.

However, we cannot ignore the legitimate concerns. The closed-source codebase limits independent security verification. The JELLY exploit of March 2025 revealed centralization risks that contradict the platform's decentralized positioning. And the relatively small validator set means the network's decentralization story is still a work in progress.

For the majority of active perpetual futures traders, Hyperliquid offers the best combination of performance, fees, and liquidity available on-chain today. We rate it 9.5 out of 10 - acknowledging that the path to full decentralization is not yet complete, but recognizing that the trading experience itself is outstanding. If you trade perpetual futures more than a few times per week, Hyperliquid should be at the top of your list.