Hyperliquid Revolutionizes DeFi with Composability and Shared Liquidity

The concept that liquidity breeds liquidity is being taken to new heights by Hyperliquid, a decentralized exchange that has become the go-to platform for traders seeking to engage with perpetual futures, also known as 'perps'. Launched in 2023 by Harvard alumni Jeff Yan and the pseudonymous developer iliensinc, Hyperliquid is harnessing the power of its extensive order book to offer a novel concept: composability. This DeFi notion allows permissionless smart contracts to interlock seamlessly, much like LEGO blocks, giving rise to innovative tokenized financial products. The platform's Ethereum-compatible HyperEVM is directly connected to its high-speed, homegrown HyperCore blockchain, enabling other applications to build upon Hyperliquid's shared liquidity rather than fragmenting it. This means that applications such as wallets or even other exchanges can utilize Hyperliquid as a backend, providing perps trading and other services without having to develop their own infrastructure. As more developers integrate with Hyperliquid, the platform's liquidity deepens, the variety of assets expands, and network effects intensify. With hundreds of developers, including prominent names like MetaMask and Phantom wallet, utilizing Hyperliquid's 'builder codes', the platform has generated approximately $90 million in revenue, according to Flowscan. Hyperliquid's growing user base is enthusiastic about the platform's capabilities. Hyunsu Jung, CEO of Hyperion DeFi, praises Hyperliquid, stating, 'It's not just a perpetuals exchange; it's more like the AWS for finance.' Jung highlights that the platform provides a layer-one blockchain infrastructure, offering liquidity and execution, while allowing builders to own their users and control the user interface. The 'builder codes' enable integrators to focus on delivering exceptional user experiences while Hyperliquid handles the underlying liquidity and execution. This approach allows integrators to charge fees on the notional size of their users' trades without having to develop and maintain their own backend infrastructure. For applications like MetaMask, integrating with Hyperliquid's EVM module makes perfect sense. Since October 2025, MetaMask has provided its users with self-custodial access to perps directly from the wallet. The wallet's product manager, Matthieu Saint Olive, notes that this integration streamlines fund transfers, allowing users to trade directly with the tokens they already hold. When it comes to fees, MetaMask charges a flat 0.1% builder fee, ensuring transparency and eliminating hidden spreads. Saint Olive emphasizes that this transparency is a key advantage, and the company is exploring innovative pricing models to further enhance the user experience. Even large centralized exchanges, such as South Africa-based VALR, are leveraging Hyperliquid's perps order book. Despite initially building their own infrastructure, VALR's CEO, Farzam Ehsani, acknowledges that it was challenging to achieve sufficient volume and liquidity. By integrating with Hyperliquid, VALR has been able to tap into the platform's extensive liquidity and market participants from around the world. Looking ahead, as more prominent exchanges enter the perps market, opportunities for cross-venue arbitrage will arise, according to Jung. This will enable users to maintain positions on multiple platforms, such as Robinhood and Hyperliquid, and capitalize on non-toxic flow, leading to more organic mechanisms for funding rates.