Hyperliquid is becoming a new favorite among Wall Street traders.

Source: The Wall Street Journal; Compiled by: Jinse Finance Claw

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On a Saturday in February 2026, when Vala Zeinali's phone lit up with news of President Trump's announcement of airstrikes against Iran, the hedge fund commodities trader calmly opened Hyperliquid.

Hyperliquid is a decentralized cryptocurrency platform open 24/7.

This exchange has become the go-to place for Wall Street weekend traders like Zenali this year—where they can establish or close large positions hours or even days before the opening bell. Before Trump announced the airstrikes, Zenali had already placed a four-figure bet on oil derivatives in early 2026, anticipating conflict in the Middle East. When the news caused crude oil prices to surge, he logged into Hyperliquid and closed his positions, locking in a profit of up to 243%. "I thought, 'That's great,' because usually, this kind of volatility in crude oil would subside before the market opens on Sunday," Zenali said. “So I thought, ‘Okay, I can actually exit this position,’ and I did. I exited most of my positions.” More and more traditional and cryptocurrency traders are flocking to the platform, betting on almost anything, from Bitcoin and the S&P 500 to crude oil and pre-IPO giants like SpaceX. The trading markets they've chosen are perpetual futures, or derivatives contracts, which never expire, allowing users to trade at any time with high leverage, amplifying their bets according to the paper value of their positions. Hyperliquid was founded three years ago by Jeff Yan, a former quantitative trader at the high-frequency trading firm Hudson River Trading. He says his inspiration came from the catastrophic crash of SBF's FTX exchange. That event made him realize that the crypto market needed a high-performance trading platform that allowed users—not exchanges—to safeguard their assets themselves. "Most importantly, self-custody isn't just an academic concept; it's a basic feature that users will demand," Yan said in an interview. "I was surprised that users didn't demand this more after the FTX incident, but the reason is simple: they want to be in control of their own money." Hyperliquid Labs, the developer of the exchange and its underlying blockchain, has only 11 employees. According to Blockworks Research, the blockchain and trading platform, which shares its name with the exchange, generated approximately $800 million in revenue last year. According to CoinGecko, the blockchain's native token, "HYPE," launched at the end of 2024 and has risen over 100% in the past year, with a market capitalization of approximately $16 billion. Hyperliquid's rapid rise highlights the convergence between cryptocurrency and traditional finance. The platform's perpetual futures, especially those linked to traditional assets like stocks and commodities, are attracting the attention of Wall Street. Recently, Eric Vishria, a general partner at venture capital firm Benchmark, shared a photo on X showing a banker monitoring the price of perpetual futures linked to AI chipmaker Cerebras on its first day of trading on Nasdaq. Earlier this year, S&P Dow Jones Indices licensed the S&P 500 index to Trade[XYZ], which created some of the most popular perpetual futures contracts linked to traditional financial assets on Hyperliquid. Some traders are drawn to Hyperliquid because it offers contracts for some of the most anticipated public market debuts. According to Hyperdash, Hyperliquid's data analytics platform, the cumulative trading volume of perpetual futures linked to Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX (planned to go public later this year) on Hyperliquid is approximately $280 million. While Hyperliquid is currently not open to U.S. residents, this may soon change. Last Friday, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) developed a framework for registered U.S. platforms to launch perpetual futures contracts. The agency also approved Kalshi to list Bitcoin perpetual futures contracts and allowed Coinbase's U.S. customers to access its global perpetual contracts through an affiliated company. Perpetual futures are also highly leveraged and high-risk products that can dramatically amplify a trader's gains, but can also lead to devastating losses. For example, Trump's sudden announcement on October 10th of a 100% tariff on China triggered a massive sell-off, liquidating over $19 billion in leveraged positions, including $10 billion on Hyperliquid. Jeff Yan stated that the actual liquidation amount across the cryptocurrency space is far higher than $19 billion, and Hyperliquid was singled out primarily because of its transparent liquidation data and its continued online presence when many platforms lacked full access. “Perpetual futures are a complex financial product that even experienced financial professionals may not fully understand, and I don’t think the risks of perpetual futures are adequately disclosed to retail investors,” said Benjamin Schiffrin, director of securities policy at Better Markets, an organization that advocates for stronger financial regulation. “I think this is a very dangerous combination.” All of this hasn’t stopped traders in the U.S. and other restricted regions from accessing the platform via VPNs. Traders say they are drawn to Hyperliquid because the platform doesn’t require identity verification or standard background checks, a stark contrast to the strict identity rules enforced by traditional brokerage firms and securities exchanges. Hyperliquid states in its terms of use that it blocks U.S. traders and prohibits any attempts to circumvent this restriction, including access via VPN. What also fascinates traders is Hyperliquid’s clean, user-friendly interface, its wide selection of tradable assets, and its strong sense of community that tightly binds its user base together. Pascal Lin, a trader based in Geneva, Switzerland, said he discovered Hyperliquid in late 2023 and quickly became a heavy user. Early on, he was surprised to find himself easily able to access the platform's Discord channels and provide direct feedback to Jeff Yan and other Hyperliquid team members. "It felt like I was building this product myself," said Lin, who is also the head of trading at his firm, ARES Capital Management. On Hyperliquid, Lin primarily trades HYPE tokens (the native token of the Hyperliquid blockchain), but also dabbles in oil-linked perpetual futures. It was there that he successfully captured a significant surge in oil prices, holding from around $67 a barrel to nearly $100. Lin said he was so fascinated by Hyperliquid that he set up real-time price alerts for HYPE tokens on his Apple Watch, a habit he calls an "addictive" habit he doesn't recommend other traders follow. “With just one click, I can access Hyperliquid,” he said. “Whenever I wake up in the middle of the night, I can check the price of HYPE with just one click.” Lin isn’t the only trader obsessed with Hyperliquid and its token. Much of Hyperliquid’s appeal stems from the culture of its vast ecosystem, embraced by both individual traders and developers building around the blockchain. On the X platform, Hyperliquid traders playfully add “Hyperliquid” to the end of almost every post, regardless of the topic. Many use the platform’s mascot—a smiling cat in a green jacket named “Hypurr”—as their social media profile picture. Beyond memes, developers are actively building trader-friendly tools and data trackers around the blockchain. “I think the reason there’s such a large community around it is because it’s trying to achieve the original vision of cryptocurrency: to build an elite, permissionless system,” said Lawrence Wu, co-founder of Hyperdash. “This is very idealistic,” Jeff Yan said. Hyperliquid’s ultimate goal is to accommodate all financial activity. The next step on the roadmap is to enter prediction markets and options trading. Since its launch in early May, its first outcome contracts tracking Bitcoin prices have generated millions of dollars in derivatives trading volume.