Hyperliquid Revolutionizes DeFi with Composable Liquidity

The concept that liquidity generates more liquidity is well-established. Hyperliquid, a decentralized exchange, has become the go-to platform for traders seeking to engage with 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 iliensinc, Hyperliquid launched in 2023 and has been capitalizing on its order book volume and depth by offering firms a unique form of composability. This concept, originating from decentralized finance (DeFi), enables permissionless smart contracts to integrate seamlessly, much like LEGO blocks, to create new tokenized financial products. Hyperliquid's Ethereum-compatible HyperEVM is directly connected to its high-speed, homegrown HyperCore blockchain, allowing other applications to build upon the platform's shared liquidity without fragmenting it. In essence, applications such as wallets or other exchanges can utilize Hyperliquid as a backend to offer perps trading and other services, thereby deepening liquidity, expanding asset variety, and amplifying network effects. Hundreds of developers, including prominent names like MetaMask, Phantom wallet, and the South African exchange VALR, have integrated Hyperliquid's 'builder codes,' generating approximately $90 million in revenue. The platform has garnered significant praise from its growing user base. Hyunsu Jung, CEO of Hyperion DeFi, likens Hyperliquid to 'the AWS for finance,' highlighting its role as a layer-one blockchain infrastructure providing liquidity and execution. Similar to AWS, builders on Hyperliquid own their users, control the user interface, and are responsible for charging fees on the notional size of their users' trades without needing to develop the backend or maintain liquidity. The 'builder codes' enable integrators to focus on delivering exceptional user experiences while Hyperliquid handles the underlying liquidity and execution. For instance, MetaMask, an Ethereum-based wallet with over 100 million users worldwide, has integrated Hyperliquid's EVM module, allowing users to access perps directly from their wallets since October 2025. This integration streamlines fund transfers, enabling users to trade with the tokens they already hold. MetaMask's Staff Product Manager, Matthieu Saint Olive, notes that Hyperliquid excels at matching orders, which can be challenging, and that by routing orders directly to the Hyperliquid order book, MetaMask Perps offers some of the best liquidity and execution quality available. MetaMask is witnessing growth beyond crypto, with real-world asset markets expanding from a small fraction of perp volume at the start of 2026 to roughly a quarter of it today. In terms of fees, MetaMask charges a flat 0.1% builder fee with no hidden spread, ensuring transparency for traders. The exchange is exploring innovative pricing models to make its economics a key advantage. Even large centralized exchanges, such as South Africa-based VALR, have opted to utilize Hyperliquid's perps order book for liquidity. Despite initially building their infrastructure in-house, including risk and liquidation engines, VALR found it challenging to achieve sufficient volume and liquidity for their perpetual futures. By integrating with Hyperliquid, they can now tap into a vast, global pool of market participants. Looking ahead, as major players like Robinhood, Coinbase, and Intercontinental Exchange expand their perps offerings, opportunities for cross-venue arbitrage will emerge, according to Jung. This could enable users to maintain positions on multiple platforms, leveraging non-toxic flow to create more organic mechanisms for funding rates.