Hyperliquid Leads DEX Trading Volume, Poses Challenge to Centralized Exchanges

Hyperliquid, a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on its custom Layer-1 blockchain, is cementing its dominance in perpetual futures trading and eyeing a bigger prize: market share from centralized exchanges (CEXs). Despite winding down its points program last year, the platform commands nearly 80% of perpetuals DEX volume, averaging $6.4 billion daily, according to Blockworks Research. With rapid token listings, a polished user experience, and ambitious plans for its HyperEVM, Hyperliquid is emerging as a rare DeFi player that can rival CEX giants like Bybit and OKX.

Hyperliquid’s grip on DEX perpetuals—holding 77% of the sector’s volume—stems from its ability to list relevant tokens quickly and deliver a seamless experience for users and market makers. Blockworks Research highlights its API-driven design, which mimics CEX efficiency while keeping trades fully onchain via HyperCore, its high-performance order book system.

The numbers back this up. Over the past three months, Hyperliquid’s daily trading volume has averaged $6.4 billion, according to Blockworks Research—over half the daily figures of Bybit and OKX, two leading CEXs.

Hyperliquid’s core businesses include HyperCore (the order book exchange) and HyperEVM (the EVM network). Right now, HyperCore is the dominant business, with a valuation of $11.2 billion to HyperEVM’s $61 million, according to blockworks.

Hyperliquid’s revenue model bolsters its native token, $HYPE. Fees from HyperCore split between the Hyperliquidity Provider (HLP) pool and an assistance fund, which has repurchased $96 million in $HYPE since February—roughly $1.4 million daily. This buyback mechanism, funded by a 0.0225% estimated average fee rate on $428 billion in cumulative volume, aims to reduce supply and support $HYPE’s value, now at a $6 billion market cap, according to Coingecko.

Hyperliquid’s HyperEVM, an Ethereum-compatible virtual machine launched in February, remains underoptimized and lacks key precompiles, according to Blockworks. Yet, it’s a strategic step toward broader DeFi utility—enabling asset issuance, composability, and expanded collateral options.

As predicted by Blockworks, HyperEVM will evolve by:

• Supporting new asset issuance for HyperCore’s order book, boosting trading pairs.

• Growing money markets and liquid staking tokens (LSTs) as users seek leverage and yield-bearing collateral.

• Attracting stablecoin providers and offramp services to streamline fiat conversions.

It is believed that Hyperliquid's ambitions won't stop at DEX dominance. HyperEVM is expected to focus on optimizations, precompiles and growing an ecosystem of strong, robust fundamental applications, primarily revolving around money markets, LSTs and offramps.

However, challenges linger. The $JELLYJELLY token incident in March—where an oracle price override sparked controversy—exposed HLP risks, though Hyperliquid adjusted its risk controls. HyperEVM’s underoptimization could delay its ecosystem boom, and CEXs still dwarf its scale. Yet, with $242 million in annualized revenue and no VC baggage, Hyperliquid’s trajectory looks sharp.