What is Hyperliquid (HYPE)?

Hyperliquid is a blockchain built for trading. Its main product is an exchange where every order is recorded on the blockchain itself. It is best known for perpetual futures, a kind of leveraged contract. Its coin is called HYPE.

Where it came from

The HYPE coin launched on 29 November 2024. On that day 310 million coins, 31% of the total, were given to people who had already used the exchange. The total supply is capped at 1 billion.

How it works

Hyperliquid has two parts on one blockchain.

• HyperCore runs the exchange. It keeps order books for spot trading and for perpetual futures, contracts used to bet on a price, usually with leverage. Lesson 12 explains an order book.
• HyperEVM runs general smart contracts in the same way Ethereum does.

The network is secured by its own version of proof of stake. Holders stake HYPE with validators, and a validator needs 10,000 HYPE of its own to become active.

Supply and staking

The supply is capped at 1 billion HYPE.

Staking has its own rules:

• A stake placed with a validator is locked for one day.
• Withdrawing from staking takes seven days.
• The reward rate falls as more is staked. The documentation gives about 2.37% a year when 400 million HYPE is staked.
• There is currently no automatic slashing. Validators that perform badly can be suspended and earn nothing for their stakers.

What people use it for

HYPE pays transaction fees on HyperEVM and is staked to secure the network. People also hold and trade it.

Risks to know

• The product is leveraged trading. Lesson 20 explains why borrowed money multiplies losses, and Lesson 43 shows how a leveraged position is liquidated.
• Validators stepped in during a crisis. In March 2025 a trader used a thinly traded token called JELLY to push a large losing position onto the exchange's own liquidity pool. The validators voted to remove the market and settled every position at a price they chose. That protected the pool. It also showed that a small group could override the market. A data site counted eight validators at the time.
• It is young. The coin has existed only since late 2024.
• No automatic slashing yet. The penalty that deters validators on other networks is not fully in place.
• Price swings, as with every coin.

Learn more

Lesson 12 explains exchanges and order books, Lesson 42 explains decentralised exchanges, and Lesson 50 gives seven checks for any staking offer.