One exchange, any asset

Last July, we wrote about Hyperliquid, the onchain exchange that has come to dominate perpetuals trading in crypto. For a refresher on what perpetuals are, you can revisit our previous issue on Hyperliquid here.

In October, the protocol launched HIP-3, a framework that positions Hyperliquid as more than just a venue for going long or short crypto assets. Anyone can now deploy a perpetuals market for any asset. Hyperliquid provides the backend: the high-speed matching engine, onchain settlement, and network security. The deployer (the creator of the market) handles the rest: setting market parameters, maintaining the price feed, bootstrapping liquidity, and building out their own frontend and user experience. In return, deployers earn up to 50% of trading fees, with the remainder flowing to HYPE (the Hyperliquid token) buybacks. This has unlocked a wave of new markets: you can now long/short individual equities, indices, oil, metals, pre-IPO companies, and even GPU prices. Consider what's now possible: a family office shorting GPU price to hedge Nvidia exposure, a macro trader expressing a gold view on a Sunday, a crypto-native fund taking a position on pre-IPO Anthropic. All on the same venue, all permissionless, all settled onchain.

Three months in, HIP-3 markets have generated over $25 billion in cumulative volume and there is currently more than $1 billion in open interest across all HIP-3 markets. Half of the most traded assets in the last 24h are traditional assets (silver, gold, copper, Nasdaq, S&P500). The timing obviously aligns with gold breaking $5,000 for the first time and silver rallying over 150% in 2025, but the story is broader: Hyperliquid has become the 24/7, permissionless venue for expressing views across asset classes.

Even major crypto-native companies are using HIP-3 to launch their own exchanges. Tether has partnered with a consumer trading app and a crypto-native market maker to deploy USDT-denominated markets, targeting the largest pool of ready-to-trade capital in crypto. Ethena (issuer of synthetic dollar USDe) launched USDe-denominated markets that let traders earn native USDe rewards automatically on their margin while trading. HIP-3 positions Hyperliquid as the infrastructure layer to house all of finance onchain, and basically anything else with a price feed and demand. Whether the current surge is sustainable or metals-driven remains to be seen, but the model is now proven.

Also this week

• Tether launches USAT, federally regulated US stablecoin
• Fidelity to launch Ethereum-based stablecoin FIDD
• Coinbase launches prediction markets nationwide via Kalshi
• Polymarket signs exclusive MLS licensing deal
• SEC clarifies rules for tokenized securities on blockchains
• Crypto bill clears U.S. Senate milestone

Relevant financial updates

• Mesh*, a crypto payments network, has raised $75mln in a Series C funding round at a $1bln valuation, led by Dragonfly with investments from Paradigm, Coinbase Ventures, and others
• Talos*, an institutional-grade trading infrastructure enabling companies to integrate price discovery, execution of trades, and trade settlement in their products, has raised $45mln at a $1.5bln valuation in an Extended Series B funding round with investments from a16z crypto, QCP Capital, Karatage, Fidelity, BNY and 3 others
• Zama*, an open-source cryptography company focused on Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) solutions for blockchain and AI, has raised $44mln in a public token sale
• Flying Tulip*, an onchain exchange offering spot trading, perpetuals, lending, options, and structured yield, has raised $25.50mln at a $1bln valuation in a Series A funding round with investments from Amber Group, Paper Ventures and Fasanara Capital.
• Startale Labs, a blockchain development company and co-developer of Sony's Soneium L2, has raised $13mln in a Series A funding round from Sony Innovation Fund
• Doppler*, a token creation platform with customizable bonding curves, has raised $9mln in a Seed funding round led by Pantera Capital with investments from Coinbase Ventures, Variant, and Figment Capital
• Tenbin, building improved infrastructure for tokenized gold and FX markets, has raised $7.1mln in a Seed funding round led by Galaxy Ventures with investments from Archetype, Bankless Ventures, Variant, Nascent, and others
• Bleap*, an onchain finance app founded by ex-Revolut executives, has raised $6mln in a Seed funding round led by Blossom Capital
• Sentient*, an open-source AGI blockchain platform, has raised an undisclosed amount in a strategic investment from Franklin Templeton Investments

*Underlying TBV portfolio position | Prices as per 30/01

Interesting things to read

• 2026 Digital Asset Outlook: Dawn of the Institutional Era, from Grayscale Research
• Santiago Capital's Brent Johnson explains how stablecoins will redollarize the world on the Bankless podcast

Upcoming events

• IPEM Wealth Awards in CannesFeb 3-5
• EthDenver 2026Feb 17-21
• I-Connections MiamiFeb 24-26