Hyperliquid: From Challenger to Market Darling

Recently, Hyperliquid, a decentralized derivatives exchange, has once again caught the attention of the crypto world. After a series of ups and downs, Hyperliquid has begun to truly shake the status of traditional exchanges, thanks to its impressive data performance and the rapid expansion of its ecosystem.

Contract open interest hits new highs

On May 23, the open interest of Hyperliquid reached $9.31 billion, setting a new historical high. This figure has more than doubled compared to the peak of $4.4 billion in December last year. Among them, Bitcoin and Ethereum contributed about half of the contract open interest.

In a horizontal comparison, Hyperliquid's contract positions have reached a level comparable to certain mainstream trading platforms. In terms of Bitcoin contract positions, it ranks between 5th and 7th. On the same day, Hyperliquid's trading volume reached $714 million, which is about three times higher than the beginning of the month.

With the increase in trading activity, Hyperliquid's revenue has also surged significantly. In the past 30 days, the platform has generated fees totaling 62 million USD, making it the 8th ranked protocol in terms of revenue, even surpassing some well-known public chains.

Capital Inflow Reversal

In March of this year, Hyperliquid experienced an incident where traders profited from a vulnerability in the order book, leading to a significant outflow of funds. However, as large holders returned to the platform and frequently placed large contract orders, the inflow of funds into Hyperliquid began to reverse. As of May 26, the platform's net fund inflow grew to approximately $3.5 billion, not only recovering the previous losses but also reaching a new high.

Since May, the changes in capital inflows have become more pronounced. The highest single-day net inflow reached $240 million, with an average daily net inflow of $53 million. These capital inflows are closely related to the large operations of certain well-known traders, who placed contract orders worth tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars on the platform, attracting widespread attention from the market.

Ecosystem Expansion

The governance token HYPE of Hyperliquid began to rise sharply after hitting bottom in April. As of May 27, HYPE reached a maximum price of $39.9, an increase of approximately 329%, with a market capitalization peaking at $12.9 billion, surpassing that of a well-known public chain token.

In terms of ecological construction, Hyperliquid has also made significant progress. Multiple external DeFi protocols have started to be deployed on the platform, and several exclusive protocols have emerged within the platform, many of which have a TVL exceeding $100 million. As of May 27, Hyperliquid's TVL reached $1.46 billion, with the number of protocols increasing to 27, of which 16 are platform-exclusive protocols.

In addition, Hyperliquid has also added multiple cross-chain bridge tools, supporting the direct transfer of more on-chain assets. In terms of stablecoin issuance, Hyperliquid ranks sixth with a market capitalization of $3.6 billion, surpassing several public chains that have been established for a longer time.

Challenges and Opportunities Coexist

Despite the impressive performance of most data, Hyperliquid still faces some challenges. For example, the growth in the number of new users has slowed down, with only a few hundred new users added daily, far below the level when the platform was first launched. Although the number of daily active traders has increased, there is still a gap compared to centralized exchanges.

In addition, the trading categories on the platform are still relatively concentrated, mainly focusing on a few mainstream tokens, making it difficult for newly listed tokens to generate a significant "listing effect." After the previous security incidents, although the returns from the HLP treasury have recovered, the deposit amounts have not yet fully returned to previous levels, indicating that the trust of some large holders has not completely restored.

Overall, Hyperliquid has performed remarkably well recently, with core data showing exponential growth and heightened market attention. However, issues such as a slowdown in new user growth and the need for some users to regain trust still need to be addressed. Nevertheless, Hyperliquid has already proven to the industry that it is becoming an emerging force in the trading platform space that cannot be ignored.