Hyperliquid Expands DeFi's 'Money LEGO' Landscape with Crypto Perps

The concept that liquidity attracts liquidity holds true. Hyperliquid has emerged as a top choice for traders, particularly those interested in perpetual futures or 'perps,' which are blockchain-based derivatives contracts allowing users to speculate on asset prices with leverage and no expiration date. Founded by Harvard classmates Jeff Yan and the pseudonymous developer iliensinc, Hyperliquid has been live since early 2023 and is now capitalizing on its order book volume and depth by offering firms a form of composability. This concept, originating from decentralized finance (DeFi), allows permissionless smart contracts to interlock like financial building blocks, creating new tokenized products. Hyperliquid's Ethereum-compatible HyperEVM directly connects to its high-speed, homegrown HyperCore blockchain, enabling other applications to utilize the platform's shared liquidity without fragmentation. This means wallets or even other exchanges can integrate with Hyperliquid, using it as a backend for perps trading and other services. As more developers integrate with Hyperliquid, liquidity increases, asset variety expands, and network effects intensify. Hundreds of developers, including notable names like MetaMask and VALR, are now using Hyperliquid's 'builder codes,' generating approximately $90 million in revenue. The platform has garnered significant praise from its growing user base. According to Hyunsu Jung, CEO of Hyperion DeFi, 'Hyperliquid is not just a perpetuals exchange; it's more like the AWS for finance.' Jung emphasized that the platform provides liquidity and execution, similar to how AWS offers cloud infrastructure, allowing builders to own their users and control the user interface. Hyperliquid's business development lead, Sterling Barnett, noted that 'builder codes enable integrators to focus on delivering a great user experience while Hyperliquid handles the backend for liquidity and execution.' This approach allows integrators to offer their users top-notch on-chain liquidity and institutional-grade infrastructure while earning fees on every trade. For apps like MetaMask, integrating with Hyperliquid makes sense, as it provides self-custodial access to perps directly from the wallet. MetaMask has seen growth beyond crypto, with commodities and equities becoming a significant part of its perp volume. The company charges a flat 0.1% builder fee with no hidden spread, prioritizing transparency in its pricing model. Similarly, the South Africa-based exchange VALR has found Hyperliquid's perps order book to be a viable option for its liquidity requirements. Despite initially building its infrastructure in-house, VALR struggled to achieve sufficient volume and liquidity for its perpetual futures. By partnering with Hyperliquid, VALR can now offer its customers access to a more extensive and diverse market. Looking ahead, as major exchanges like Robinhood and Coinbase expand into perps, opportunities for cross-venue arbitrage will emerge, according to Jung. This development is expected to introduce more organic mechanisms for funding rates, further enhancing the efficiency of the market.