Hyperliquid review

What Hyperliquid is and how it settles

Hyperliquid is a decentralized exchange (DEX) for perpetual futures (perps). It runs an order book on its own chain, HyperCore. Orders, fills and settlement all run on HyperCore.

The Hyperliquid docs state that mainnet supports about 200,000 orders per second. For a client near the servers, half of all orders take 0.2 seconds or less from end to end, and 99% take 0.9 seconds or less. Traders pay no gas. Trading fees and funding still apply.

Circle issues USDC directly on HyperCore, as the USDC page states. Circle's CCTP moves USDC in from Arbitrum. The old Arbitrum bridge now holds less than 10% of the USDC on HyperCore.

HIP-3 builder markets

HIP-3 lets builders add perp markets to HyperCore. The builder sets the market, its price feed and its leverage limits, and can settle the market. These markets use the same order book and margin system. They also add the risk of the builder's setup.

A HIP-3 market can have a fee that is not the base fee. A deployer can add its own fee share. In growth mode, the all-in fees drop by 90% or more. Check the fee of the exact market before you trade.

Builder codes

Builder codes let a third-party interface charge a fee on the orders that it sends. The user approves a maximum builder fee for each builder, and the docs set a cap on that fee. A trade through another interface can thus cost more than a trade on the official app.

The HLP vault

The protocol vault page describes the Hyperliquidity Provider (HLP) vault. HLP makes markets, takes over some liquidations and gets a part of the fees. Anyone can deposit USDC and share its gains and losses.

A deposit locks for 4 days. The liquidation page states that liquidations go to the order book first. When account equity falls below two thirds of the maintenance margin, the liquidator vault takes the position.

Access and interface

The web app has no sign-up form. You connect a wallet and sign a message. The terms of use block users in the United States, Ontario (Canada) and sanctioned territories. The terms also block citizens of the sanctioned territories.

The official app has no native iOS or Android app. Third-party interfaces can use builder codes, and those interfaces can add their own fee.

Fees

The fee page sets your tier from your volume over 14 days. The base tier charges 0.015% maker and 0.045% taker. Above $25 million (tier 2), the rates drop to 0.008% maker and 0.035% taker. Above $500 million (tier 4), the rates drop to 0% maker and 0.028% taker.

If you stake HYPE, your fees drop by 5% to 40%. A large share of maker volume can earn a small rebate. On a $10,000 position, the base taker fee is $4.50 to open and $4.50 to close.

The fee is only one part of the cost. Spread, price impact and funding add to it. The BTC cost ranking shows the measured total cost of a market buy. Use the fee calculator to compare fee schedules.

Security and audits

The audits page names one firm, Zellic. Its reports cover the legacy bridge contract. The page names no audit of HyperCore. An audit covers a stated scope at a stated time. It does not remove all protocol risk.

The validators control which markets list and delist, and at what price a market settles. The JELLY event showed this. Compare that control with other venues before you deposit funds.

Main risks

Normal trading depends on the HyperCore validators. They can delist a market and set its final price. HLP depositors carry the losses from bad debt, as the POPCAT event showed.

High leverage makes a liquidation more likely. At 40x, the maintenance margin is 1.25%, so a small price move can close the position. In a backstop liquidation, the trader loses the maintenance margin.

Referral discount

The referral page states that a referral code gives a 4% discount on fees. The discount applies to the first $25 million of volume only. It does not apply to vaults or sub-accounts. The referrer receives 10% of the referred user's fees, less the discount.

Incidents

In two events, traders pushed a thin market to put losses on HLP. PerpFinder found no official report of these events in the Hyperliquid docs. The facts below come from the Halborn security write-ups.

• JELLY, March 2025. A trader moved the price of the JELLY perp and put HLP at risk of a large loss. Validators then delisted JELLY and settled all positions at $0.0095. The attacker withdrew $6.26 million before withdrawals stopped (Halborn). The validators chose the settlement price. Some users saw that as too much central control.
• POPCAT, November 2025. An attacker opened more than $20 million of POPCAT long positions from 19 wallets. The attacker then removed a large buy order, and the price fell. HLP took about $4.9 million of bad debt. Hyperliquid stopped withdrawals and the Arbitrum bridge for a period (Halborn).

In the POPCAT event, the vault took the loss. An HLP depositor carries that risk.

Leverage and funding

The perpetual assets page gives a range of 3x to 40x by asset. On September 23, 2026, the official API gave 40x for BTC, 25x for ETH and 20x for SOL. The maintenance margin is half of the initial margin at maximum leverage.

Funding settles every hour. The formula uses an 8-hour rate, and each hour pays one eighth of it. The cap is 4% per hour for every asset. The funding rate tool shows the current rates.

Who Hyperliquid may fit

Hyperliquid may fit traders who want an on-chain order book, no gas fees and hourly funding. These traders must also accept validator control of listings and the risk of HIP-3 markets. Compare the design with Lighter, dYdX or other venues on the compare page.

Before a trade, check the market, leverage cap, fee tier and funding rate in the live app. Markets and limits can change at any time.