Can Any DeFi Platform Catch Up to Hyperliquid’s $1.6T Surge?

Hyperliquid has emerged as a category-defining force posting performance metrics that rival top centralized exchanges and challenge the rest of the DeFi market to keep pace.

With over $1.6 trillion in cumulative trading volume, a record-breaking $248 billion in monthly trades for May 2025, and a native HYPE token that has soared more than 1,000% in the past year, Hyperliquid is setting a new standard for on-chain performance.

What Is Hyperliquid’s “Secret Sauce”?

The February 2025 rollout of HyperEVM, an EVM-compatible execution layer, transformed Hyperliquid from a pure trading venue into a general-purpose DeFi ecosystem.

Developers can now “rent” Hyperliquid’s native liquidity through Builder Codes, an innovation that combines the appeal of high throughput with composable smart contracts, the best of both CeFi and DeFi.

Related: 6 Altcoins Shine Green in a Red Market With Strong Relative Strength

Unlike competitors like dYdX (still relying on off-chain matching) or GMX (which lags due to oracle delays), Hyperliquid executes every order directly on-chain—up to 200,000 per second with just 0.2s latency.

With zero wallet confirmation friction, no gas fees (owing to built-in account abstraction), and negligible slippage, Hyperliquid brings a trading UX previously only possible on Binance or Bybit.

Is Institutional Money Taking Notice?

Meanwhile, Nasdaq-listed Lion Group Holdings (LGHL) just committed $600 million to a crypto treasury, naming HYPE as its primary reserve asset. The CEO called Hyperliquid “foundational to scalable DeFi,” and the market agreed as LGHL stock jumped 20% following the announcement.

Further, Nasdaq-listed Eyenovia recently partnered with Kinetiq to run a validator node, staking over 1 million HYPE tokens. The node is hosted by SOC 2-certified Pier Two, a signal of growing institutional trust in Hyperliquid’s network security.

HYPE Analysis: What’s Next for the Token

At the time of writing, HYPE/USDT is trading around $37.25, attempting to stabilize after a sharp retracement from the local high of $44.40. Price action remains compressed between minor support and resistance levels, offering a potential setup for the next breakout as per the 4-hour chart below.

The RSI is hovering around 52, slightly above neutral. This reflects reduced bearish momentum and suggests consolidation. No clear divergence is present, but if RSI begins climbing above 60, it could confirm a shift back toward bullish strength.

Related: What’s Next for HYPE, TON, SHIB, and PI? Breakout or Breakdown?

The MACD lines are nearing a bullish crossover, with the blue MACD line converging on the orange signal line. Histogram bars are fading into neutral territory, indicating weakening downward momentum. A confirmed crossover could act as a short-term buy signal.

The recent leg from $38.81 (swing low) to $44.40 (swing high) has pulled back to the key Fib level at 0.382 ($41.50) and found temporary support around $40.18 (0.236 Fib). After dropping further, it nearly touched the origin of the move at $38.81, showing a full retracement before bouncing.

This suggests the current zone between $36.50–$38.50 is acting as a critical demand area, where buyers may attempt to regain control.