HYPE's Record Rally Signals Hyperliquid's Growing Influence Beyond Crypto

Hyperliquid, best known for its 24/7 perpetual futures and spot trading platform, has about $6bn in total value locked (TVL), according to DeFiLlama. It has processed around $245.5bn in perpetual futures trading volume over the past 30 days and generates more than $1bn in annualized fees.

Its token climbed to a record high of $76.16 on 17 Jun before pulling back to trade at $68 at 18:41UTC on 18 Jun, up 17.5% over the past week and more than 166% from the start of the year, according to CoinGecko.

Hyperliquid's expansion beyond crypto markets has allowed it to capitalize on intense trader interest in a series of recent major non-crypto events, including the US intervention in Venezuela, the US-Iran war, the SpaceX initial public offering (IPO) and the growth of prediction markets in general. 

"We've seen this with oil markets. We've seen it with prediction markets. We've seen it with SpaceX pre-IPO markets," said Ryan Horst, founder and chief executive of AltCoin Pro, who added that the platform is increasingly becoming a place where traders look for price discovery across a growing range of markets. 

The recent rally came as Hyperliquid's share of global perpetual futures trading volume climbed to 8.1%, up from about 4.6% at the end of 2025, according to data from HypeFlows. Meanwhile, its share of open interest (OI) reached a record 8.4% this week.

Sustainable growth

Analysts said the exchange's growth appears to be driven by real user adoption rather than the rewards programmes and token incentives that have often fuelled activity on other decentralized trading platforms.

Token Terminal data show Hyperliquid ranked first among derivatives exchanges by daily active users, with around 77,500 daily users – this is more than three times the figure shown for the second-ranked platform, TradeXYZ. 

"All signs point to Hyperliquid's share continuing to increase," said Alex Lin, co-founder and general partner at venture firm Reforge.

Lin said Hyperliquid's growth appears more sustainable than that of many rival onchain exchanges as trading activity has shown little evidence of artificial volume.

"Hyperliquid's OI growth is significantly more credible than other on-chain venues because volumes have no signs of wash trading," he said. "All activity appears to be natural, and Hyperliquid's take-rate has stayed stable through its growth."

A bet on the exchange

Hyperliquid's rapid growth has prompted comparisons with Binance's early expansion, when the exchange's rising trading volumes and market share helped boost demand for BNB, its native token.

AltCoin Pro's Horst said many investors now see HYPE as a way to gain exposure to the growth of the exchange itself. 

"A similar dynamic is happening with HYPE," Horst said. "BNB appreciation followed as the market recognized that the exchange was capturing an increasing share of economic activity." BNB is currently the fourth-largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of over $77.6bn, per CoinGecko. 

Lin made a similar argument, noting that HYPE increasingly behaves like a "representation of such a superior product that monetizes volatility rather than just a high-beta directional bet on assets." 

Expanding beyond crypto

Part of Hyperliquid's recent growth has further come from expanding beyond traditional cryptocurrency markets, the experts noted. The platform has recently attracted attention for markets tied to assets such as commodities and prediction markets. 

Lin pointed to Hyperliquid's HIP-3 framework, which allows developers to build new products on top of the exchange's infrastructure. "Think of Hyperliquid as AWS rather than just your typical stock exchange," he said. AWS refers to Amazon Web Services – one of the world's most popular cloud computing platforms. 

Regulation remains the biggest risk

Despite the growth, both analysts said regulation remains the biggest threat to Hyperliquid's expansion.

The platform currently blocks US users, while regulated competitors such as Coinbase and Kalshi continue moving into derivatives and prediction-market products.

Lin added that a crackdown on decentralized derivatives trading could limit Hyperliquid's growth potential, while Horst said clearer regulations could allow traditional financial firms and crypto-native exchanges to compete more directly for the same users.

Still, both argued that Hyperliquid's recent gains are being driven by a strong product and growing market share rather than short-term speculation. "The incentives may have started the fire," Horst said. "The product, liquidity, and economic model appear to be keeping it burning."