Hyperliquid’s Real-World Asset Perpetual Surge Challenges Native HYPE Revenue Streams

At the beginning of 2026, these builder-deployed markets accounted for approximately 2% of Hyperliquid’s perpetual contract trading volume. By mid-2026, they represent nearly 50% of total activity, reflecting a dramatic shift in user preferences and market dynamics.

This transition is evident in the financial statements. Cost of revenue—the segment of fees Hyperliquid directly distributes to builders, market makers, and its proprietary liquidity pool—stood below 6% of gross revenue during the second quarter of 2025. Twelve months later, it had climbed to 18%, highlighting the increasing proportion of revenue being channeled back to third parties.

Builder code fees, which front-end platforms like Phantom assess for order execution routing, reached approximately $16 million in revenue during the second quarter and were equally offset by $16 million in costs within the same period. Each dollar collected is passed through completely, resulting in no net financial gain for Hyperliquid.

Traders continue to flood the platform due to the diverse asset classes available through these builder markets. Real-world asset perpetual contracts—covering instruments such as crude oil, gold, Nvidia, Tesla, Nasdaq-100 ETFs, and pre-IPO equities like SpaceX—reached a record $3.6 billion in open interest this month, becoming the platform’s largest market by this metric and surpassing Bitcoin.

During the week of July 13 to July 19, tokenized stocks and commodities generated $25 billion in trading volume, representing 52% of the weekly total and overtaking crypto-based perpetual contracts for the first time. These contracts settle in stablecoins, remain active indefinitely without expiration dates, and facilitate trading even during weekends when traditional exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange remain closed. Instruments offering leveraged exposure to assets like Nvidia, tradable at inconvenient hours such as 2 a.m. on Sunday, have limited alternatives in conventional markets.

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