Bitcoin (BTC) isn’t the only one setting milestones. HyperLiquid, the leading on-chain perpetual transaction protocol running on a custom-built layer 1 blockchain, is also setting impressive records, with the platform seeing more activity in Ether (ETH) than Bitcoin.
According to DefiLlama, the cumulative value of forever-forever transactions on the platform has soared to over $500 billion, marking a staggering 15x increase since the beginning of the year.
The platform has seen an average daily trading value of over $5 billion over the past seven days, accounting for over 45% of the total on-chain perpetual market trading volume in the past 24 hours.
What's even more interesting is that it's Ether, not Bitcoin, that is leading this week's boom. Since Monday, Ether Perpetual Trading has recorded a cumulative trading volume of $7 billion. This is 18% more than Bitcoin's total value of $5.94 billion, according to data source stats.hyperliquid.xyz.
Ether has also led the increase in cumulative notional open interest on the platform since late November. At the time of writing, $857.5 million worth of Ether perpetual assets were active, accounting for nearly 25% of the total open interest of $3.49 billion.
Ether's increased activity on HyperLiquid represents sticky capital that could fuel the next step up for the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. At the time of writing, ETH was trading at $3,900, representing a 70% increase year-to-date, according to CoinDesk data.
According to some observers, this success is due to HyperLiquid being a purpose-built protocol rather than a general, one-size-fits-all chain.
“HyperLiquid’s success appears to be rooted in prioritizing product-market fit, blending institutional-level performance with DeFi accessibility, such as no KYC requirements, and offering more generous incentives to active traders.” By doing so, Hyperliquid is closely aligned with the needs of its users and has the potential to set new standards for future “crypto projects,” algorithmic trading firm Wintermute said in a note shared with CoinDesk.
HYPE is greater than AAVE
Speaking of market movements, HyperLiquid’s two-week-old HYPE token is already making waves. According to data source Coingecko, the cryptocurrency has soared more than 300% since its inception, and its market cap has skyrocketed to $5.69 billion. It is larger than established DeFi players such as Radium and Jupiter.
According to Wintermute, the sustained bullish move after the record airdrop is a sign of investor confidence.
“Despite the potential for significant selling pressure from airdrop recipients, sustained demand for HYPE consistently exceeds supply, indicating robust market confidence.” Wintermute pointed out.
On November 29, HyperLiquid airdropped 31% of HYPE's approximately 1 billion supply to users who hold points earned through trading activity. Airdrop was valued at $1.9 billion, surpassing Layer 2 solution Arbitrum's valuation of $1.5 billion.
HYPE will be used as a staking asset to secure the platform's HyperBFT consensus mechanism and will act as a gas token to facilitate transactions and smart contract execution.
