Hyperliquid
Hyperliquid is a high-performance decentralized exchange for perpetual futures (and spot) that runs on its own purpose-built layer-1 blockchain, the Hyperliquid L1. Unlike most perp venues, its order book lives fully on-chain, so trades match on the network itself rather than on a company's servers, and you trade non-custodially from your own wallet. Its mainnet went live in 2023; the native HYPE token was distributed in a large genesis airdrop on 29 November 2024. A community vault called HLP provides market-making liquidity that users can deposit into. Do not confuse it with unrelated uses of the word "hyperliquid" in oil, aerospace or other industries — this profile is only the crypto exchange and its L1.
- Launched
- Mainnet live in 2023; runs on its own Hyperliquid layer-1 blockchain2023 · source
- Model
- Non-custodial, fully on-chain order-book perpetuals and spot exchange; you trade from your own wallet
- HYPE token
- Native token of the Hyperliquid L1; genesis airdrop on 29 November 20242024-11-29 · source
- HLP vault
- Community market-making and liquidation vault that users can deposit into to share in its profit and loss
What is Hyperliquid?
Hyperliquid is a decentralized exchange built mainly for perpetual futures — leveraged contracts that track an asset's price with no expiry — with spot trading alongside. What sets it apart is that it runs on its own layer-1 blockchain and keeps the full order book on-chain, aiming for the speed of a centralized venue while letting you trade non-custodially from your own wallet. Its mainnet launched in 2023.
Two pieces come up constantly. HLP (the Hyperliquid Provider vault) is a community vault that supplies market-making and liquidation liquidity; anyone can deposit into it and share its gains and losses. HYPE is the network's native token, distributed in a large genesis airdrop on 29 November 2024. One quick disambiguation: the word "hyperliquid" also appears in unrelated engineering and industrial contexts (for example fluids or aerospace); this page covers only the crypto exchange and its layer-1.
Is Hyperliquid safe?
On the fundamentals, Hyperliquid is non-custodial: you hold your own keys and trade from your wallet, and as of this writing the protocol has not suffered a bridge exploit or a loss of user funds. The honest caveat is about centralization. Hyperliquid runs on a relatively small validator set, and critics argue that concentrated control over the chain and its intervention powers is a meaningful trust assumption for something marketed as decentralized.
That debate became concrete in March 2025 during the "JELLY" episode: a trader manipulated a thinly traded market to push losses onto the HLP vault, and Hyperliquid's validators voted to delist the market and force-settle positions at the manipulator's entry price. The HLP vault was ultimately made whole and even ended slightly positive, but the use of a validator vote to override live prices drew comparisons to a centralized bailout. Separately, in late 2024 addresses linked to North Korean actors traded on the platform and lost money; that was trading activity, not a hack, and no exploit occurred. Beyond protocol risk, remember that perpetuals with leverage can be liquidated quickly, and phishing sites remain a user-side threat.
Incident record
On 26 March 2025 a trader manipulated the thinly traded JELLY perpetual, pushing a losing position onto Hyperliquid's HLP market-making vault, whose unrealized losses peaked around $12M. Hyperliquid's validators voted to delist JELLY and force-settle all positions at the manipulator's entry price. The HLP vault ended the episode with a small profit (about $703K), and the Hyper Foundation said it would compensate affected non-flagged users. The intervention was controversial because a protocol marketed as decentralized used a validator vote to override live market prices.
In our ratings
Where we score Hyperliquid against its peers on open data. The number lives there, not here.
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Frequently asked
Is Hyperliquid safe?+
Hyperliquid is non-custodial and, as of this writing, has not suffered a bridge exploit or loss of user funds. The main concern is centralization: a small validator set holds significant control, shown in the March 2025 JELLY episode where validators voted to override market prices to protect the HLP vault. Leverage and phishing remain the usual user-side risks.
What is Hyperliquid?+
Hyperliquid is a decentralized perpetual-futures exchange (with spot trading) that runs on its own layer-1 blockchain and keeps its order book fully on-chain. You trade non-custodially from your own wallet. Mainnet launched in 2023, and the native HYPE token was airdropped on 29 November 2024.
What is HLP?+
HLP is the Hyperliquid Provider vault, a community market-making and liquidation vault. Users can deposit into it to share in its market-making profit and loss. During the March 2025 JELLY manipulation it briefly absorbed large losses but was ultimately made whole.
Was Hyperliquid hacked by North Korea?+
No. In late 2024, addresses linked to North Korean actors traded on Hyperliquid and lost money, which some analysts read as probing the platform. It was trading activity, not a hack, and no exploit or loss of user funds occurred.
What changed
- 2026-09-28Profile created: the perp-DEX and own-L1 model, HLP and HYPE, disambiguation from unrelated 'hyperliquid' uses, the centralization debate, and the March 2025 JELLY incident with a confirmed made-whole verdict plus the 2024 DPRK-trading note.