Hyperliquid Emerges as Leading Decentralized Exchange and Layer-1 Network in 2025
Hyperliquid, a decentralized exchange and layer-1 network co-founded by Jeff Yan, gained prominence following the formation of Hyperliquid Labs in 2023 after the 2022 FTX collapse. In 2025, the platform processed over $2.73 trillion in perpetual futures volume, $110.65 billion in spot trading, and generated $1.22 billion in annualized revenue. The Hyperliquid team consists of 11 people, and the platform distributes revenue shares to its users.
The project played a crucial role in popularizing perpetual futures and accessible leverage, driving growth for perpetual decentralized exchanges (perp DEXs) and contributing to the shift of retail trading toward decentralized finance (DeFi). Hyperliquid offers leverage from 3x up to 40x with more than 100 tokens available as perpetual contracts; in July 2025, perp trading volume reached $319.5 billion, representing about 56.6% of the total perpetual futures market, with a perps-to-spot trading ratio of 11.5.
All trades on Hyperliquid settle on-chain via its own layer-1 network, featuring an on-chain order book and gasless transactions, with trades publicly viewable through HypurrScan. To navigate regulatory challenges, the platform blocks users from the United States, a move described by proponents as regulatory arbitrage that lowers barriers and increases liquidity, particularly for users in emerging markets.
Industry observers note challenges related to risk management, and that market makers may profit from uninformed trading flows. Competitors such as Aster offer leverage up to 1001x; meanwhile, exchanges like BitMEX and BNB Chain see increasing shifts toward decentralized exchanges. On October 10, 2025, the crypto market experienced its largest leveraged liquidation event in history, with about $19 billion of positions liquidated.
The native token of Hyperliquid’s ecosystem, MON, trades with 3x leverage, and the token MegaETH was added prior to the platform's launch.
