Hyperliquid (HYPE), a decentralized trading platform that began as a perpetual cryptocurrency exchange less than three years ago, is increasingly being seen by Wall Street analysts as a broader financial infrastructure that could challenge parts of traditional exchanges and derivatives markets.
In a new report, Grayscale described Hyperliquid as a fast-growing blockchain-based platform that generated around $800 million in revenue by 2025 while capturing meaningful market share in crypto perpetual futures, one of the largest segments of digital asset trading.
“Hyperliquid is not directly comparable to any other project in either crypto or traditional finance,” Grayscale wrote. “If it continues to perform well … we think Hyperliquid could become a financial services juggernaut.”
Perpetual futures or “perps” are derivative contracts that allow traders to speculate on asset prices without expiration dates. The market has become a cornerstone of crypto trading, averaging about $200 billion in daily volume this year, according to Grayscale.
Historically, the market has been dominated by centralized exchanges such as Binance and Bybit. However, Hyperliquid emerged earlier this year as one of the first decentralized exchanges to compete at scale while offering self-sustaining and onchain transparency.
The platform handled about $2.9 trillion in perpetual futures volume by 2025 and now has about $7 billion in open interest, according to the report.
Grayscale claimed that Hyperliquid’s ambitions now extend far beyond crypto trading.
The platform has expanded to tokenized stocks, commodities and prediction-style markets through its HIP-3 and HIP-4 systems, allowing developers to launch new markets directly on the network. Grayscale said these products are increasingly serving as round-the-clock trading venues for assets traditionally limited to Wall Street hours.
FalconX reached a similar conclusion in a separate report last week, saying Hyperliquid has begun to compete with firms such as CME Group and prediction market operators including Kalshi and Polymarket.
“Hyperliquid is seeing traction as demand for its HIP-3 markets expands to include pre-IPO markets,” wrote FalconX strategist Martin Gaspar.
Both reports pointed to regulation as a critical factor for Hyperliquid’s future growth.
Hyperliquid currently blocks US users because perpetual futures markets operate in a regulatory gray area under US law. But Grayscale said evolving guidance from regulators and growing interest from firms such as Coinbase ( COIN ), Robinhood ( HOOD ) and Kraken suggest that regulated perpetual products could eventually enter the U.S. market.
Even so, there are still risks. Grayscale noted that Hyperliquid’s token, HYPE, remains highly volatile and warned that the platform’s long-term growth depends heavily on future regulatory changes.
Still, both firms suggested that Hyperliquid has moved beyond being considered just another crypto exchange.
Instead, analysts increasingly see it as an early attempt to build a 24/7 global financial market on blockchain rails.
