Hyperliquid (HYPE)

Hyperliquid is a layer-1 blockchain built for trading applications, and HYPE is its native token. The project is best known for spot and perpetual futures markets that run on a fully on-chain order book. The team, co-founded by Jeff Yan, opened its perpetuals exchange in 2023 and built the project without raising outside venture capital.

How does Hyperliquid work?

The network has two main components. HyperCore runs the spot and perpetual order books where buy and sell orders are matched. An order book lists offers at different prices; it works much like a centralised exchange, except every order and fill is recorded on chain. HyperEVM, which launched in February 2025, is the environment where developers write smart contracts using Ethereum tooling.

Both components are secured by a shared consensus system called HyperBFT and share the same state. The practical point for users: trading balances, staking balances and HyperEVM balances sit in different places, and moving between them requires a transfer. Perpetuals are mostly margined in USDC, which users typically deposit through the official bridge on Arbitrum.

What is HYPE used for?

HYPE has four main functions:

• Staking: it can be delegated to validators to help secure the network and earn rewards.
• Network fees: gas on HyperEVM is paid in HYPE.
• Trading discounts: staked HYPE unlocks lower trading fees, tiered by the amount staked.
• Buybacks: most of the exchange’s trading fees go to the “Assistance Fund”, which buys HYPE on the market.

HYPE supply and distribution

HYPE launched on November 29, 2024, with a total supply of 1 billion tokens. Around 31% of the supply was airdropped to people who had used the exchange (see our airdrop guide), and no allocation went to venture investors. The rest was set aside for future incentives, the team and the community. Circulating supply rises as team allocations unlock on schedule.

How does HYPE staking work?

Native HYPE staking takes place on HyperCore. Users delegate HYPE from their staking account to a validator of their choice, and rewards depend on network rules and the validator’s commission. According to the official documentation, delegations carry a one-day lock, and moving HYPE from the staking account back to spot involves a seven-day withdrawal queue. Factor that in before staking tokens you may want to sell at short notice. When choosing a validator, also check its commission and uptime record.

Spot HYPE versus perpetual futures

Buying HYPE on the spot market puts real HYPE in your balance. A perpetual trade opens a contract position linked to the price, and no HYPE is delivered. Leverage lets you open a bigger position with the same collateral but also accelerates losses; if collateral runs short, the position is liquidated. Perpetual positions also involve funding payments on top of trading fees.

What are the risks of Hyperliquid?

Hyperliquid runs with fewer validators than many large networks, which draws criticism over centralisation. That debate intensified in March 2025, when validators shut down the perpetual market for a token called JELLY after an apparent manipulation attempt. Smart contract bugs, bridge risk and sudden drops in liquidity also deserve attention. Before sending funds, check whether the receiving service supports HyperCore or HyperEVM.

How to read the market data

The price display and calculator show HYPE’s value in US dollars or Turkish lira by multiplying the amount by the unit price. Higher trading volume on Hyperliquid means more fees and buybacks, but the effect on price depends on market conditions. To weigh circulating supply against total supply, see our guide to market cap and FDV.

Official sources

• Hyperliquid: network overview
• HyperCore and HyperEVM
• HYPE and HyperEVM gas
• HYPE staking
• Trading fees and staking discounts
• CoinMarketCap: HYPE