Hyperliquid Earns More On-Chain Revenue than Ethereum. Will the $HYPE Price Go Further Up?

Hyperliquid’s monthly trading volume and protocol revenue have surged through 2025, reaching record highs. In July, the platform recorded approximately $320 billion in crypto perpetuals trading volume and $86.6 million in protocol revenue, both the highest monthly figures since its launch. On August 15, the protocol hit a new ATH for the daily volume of fees and revenue. These milestones highlight Hyperliquid’s emergence as a DeFi powerhouse, surpassing even major Layer 1 (L1) networks like Ethereum and Solana in fee generation. While the price of Hyperliquid’s native token, $HYPE, has been growing for more than half a year already, how much longer will this momentum last?

In this article, DWF Ventures explores the strategy behind Hyperliquid’s rise, factors that influence the $HYPE price, and what this project could mean for the future of on-chain trading.

Introduction

Launched in 2023, Hyperliquid was built to provide the functionality of centralized crypto exchanges while maintaining the transparency and control offered by DeFi. It runs on its own Layer-1 blockchain, HyperCore, which uses a custom HyperBFT consensus capable of sub-second finality and designed to handle over 200,000 orders per second. 

The platform combines a fully on-chain order book with the HyperEVM layer, compatible with Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). This setup supports low-slippage trading, leverage, zero gas fees for trades, and fast execution. The introduction of HyperEVM also enabled the development of additional projects in the network, including Hyperlend, a lending platform, and Hypurrfun, a DeFi application with game-like elements.

Record-Breaking Airdrop

In November2024, Hyperliquid conducted a $HYPE token airdrop that allocated 31% of the total supply to more than 90,000 addresses. The scale of this distribution became a significant landmark in DeFi sector’s history, both in terms of  value, percentage of supply airdropped and the number of recipients. Overall, the $HYPE launch was the top crypto airdrop of 2024. 

The absence of prior crypto venture capital funding meant that tokens were distributed directly to users rather than institutional backers, which is less common among comparable projects. Aligning early token ownership with individual traders using the platform, the airdrop aimed to promote ongoing engagement, distribute decision-making more evenly, and reduce the concentration of supply that can occur when early investors hold a large share.

$HYPE: All-Time-High Performance

According to July 2025 metrics, Hyperliquid recorded approximately $320 billion in perpetuals trading volume and $86.6 million in protocol revenue, both the highest monthly figures since its launch. According to the Head of Digital Assets Research at VanEck, Matthew Sigel, Hyperliquid exceeded all other top L1 blockchains such as Ethereum and Solana in on-chain revenue, occupying a 35% market share.

This level of activity positions Hyperliquid as the largest trading venue in the global crypto derivatives market. And the largest share in blockchain fee and revenue highlights the extent to which trading activity on Hyperliquid contributes to on-chain economic output when compared with other Layer-1 and Layer-2 networks.

This also reflects a continued shift in user activity toward the platform. As DWF Ventures found, Hyperliquid’s aggregate market share versus centralized crypto exchanges reached 6.1%, marking a new high. When measured against individual competitors, Hyperliquid achieved record levels of market share versus Bybit and OKX, two of the largest derivatives-focused centralized crypto exchanges. This trend suggests that Hyperliquid is consistently capturing order flow from established trading venues, potentially due to its execution performance, trading features, and fee structure.

Buybacks as a Growth Engine for $HYPE

In January 2025, Hyperliquid launched the Assistance Fund, a mechanism designed to allocate 97% of all trading fees toward purchasing $HYPE from the open market. The process is automated and transparent, with buybacks occurring regularly based on accumulated fees. As of the latest available figures, the fund had acquired more than 28.5 million $HYPE, with a market value of approximately $1.3 billion.

Based on an estimated daily revenue of $5 million and a token price range of $35–$55, market projections indicate that the $HYPE circulating supply could be fully repurchased by Hyperliquid in approximately 1.5 to 3.4 years, assuming current trading volumes and fee structures are maintained. This structure ties demand for $HYPE directly to platform usage, creating a predictable source of buy pressure as long as activity remains high. Unlike one-time burns or discretionary buybacks, the Assistance Fund’s approach establishes a continuous feedback loop between trading revenue and token acquisition, providing long-term visibility into how protocol earnings are used. 

This buyback structure is one part of a broader framework shaping Hyperliquid’s development. Alongside its economic model, the protocol’s direction is guided by a series of governance proposals, the Hyperliquid Improvement Proposals (HIPs), which define how new markets are launched, liquidity is provided, and access to trading is expanded.

HIP-1: Governance-Driven Listings

The first major governance proposal, HIP-1, introduced a native token standard and a governance-based listing process for the platform’s spot exchange. Communities bid in $HYPE for token listings, raising the barrier to entry and ensuring that only high-quality projects reach the market.

HIP-2: Protocol-Native Liquidity

To address liquidity bootstrapping challenges introduced by HIP-1, HIP-2 launched in April 2024. It implemented a protocol-native liquidity engine, mimicking AMM-style passive liquidity provision. This innovation ensured that newly listed tokens had deeper order books and reduced slippage from day one.

HIP-3: Permissionless Perpetuals

Hyperliquid’s most recent, and potentially most notable, proposal, HIP-3, enables permissionless creation of perpetual markets without centralized approval. This opens the door to perpetuals for a wide range of assets, from cryptocurrencies to commodities and equities, making Hyperliquid a contender not just against crypto exchanges but traditional finance platforms as well. Market creators must post a $1 million HYPE security bond, giving them control over market design, fee structures, and oracle feeds while ensuring strong incentives for responsible operation.

Conclusion

Hyperliquid’s growth is the result of a well-executed combination of community alignment, innovative tokenomics, and high-performance infrastructure. Alongside HIP-1, which enables fair, permissionless token listings, and HIP-2, which maintains liquidity through automated grid strategies, HIP-3 opens the door to massive traditional markets by allowing any HYPE staker to create perpetual markets. Together, these initiatives position Hyperliquid not just to expand its own reach but to accelerate adoption of on-chain trading as a whole.

Looking ahead, DWF Ventures will continue to monitor the growth of Hyperliquid and its ecosystem with interest in the coming year. If you are building something interesting within its ecosystem, feel free to reach out to get support from our crypto ventures team.

Disclaimer: This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult with a professional advisor before making any investment decisions.