Hyperliquid’s RWA perps boom is eating into the revenue that backs HYPE
Hyperliquid is experiencing a surge in trading volume and open interest, yet its gross protocol revenue has declined significantly due to a fee-sharing model with market builders. The platform's shift toward real-world asset perpetuals has driven user growth while simultaneously increasing the cost of revenue.
Why it matters
Illustrates the tension between platform growth and profitability in decentralized finance as protocols incentivize liquidity providers at the expense of native token value.
Open interest, the total value of leveraged positions traders hold at one time, climbed to just above $11 billion on July 13, the platform's highest in 2026. Hyperliquid’s perpetual futures volume over the past 30 days ran to nearly $178 billion. Hyperliquid now settles roughly 9% of all open perp positions worldwide, centralized exchanges included, up from under 7% in late May.
But the platform’s revenue has gone the other way. Gross protocol revenue peaked at roughly $357 million in the third quarter of 2025 and has fallen every quarter since, to nearly $295 million, then roughly $217 million, then about $202 million in the second quarter of 2026, DefiLlama data shows. That is a 43% drop from the top, booked while the trade count climbed.
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