A single permit requiring the staking of 500,000 HYPE tokens propelled this decentralized exchange to a daily trading volume exceeding $5.2 billion, with nearly 70% driven by silver contract trades.
On February 5, 2026, Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 permissionless perpetual contract market set a new daily trading volume record of $5.2 billion—the highest since the protocol launched in October 2025. TradeXYZ, the market’s primary provider, captured nearly 90% of total trading activity, with its silver contract alone reaching $4.09 billion in daily volume, accounting for roughly 68% of HIP-3’s total for the day.
Trading Frenzy
Recently, the decentralized finance sector has experienced a surge in trading activity. Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 permissionless perpetual contract market stood out, breaking the $5 billion daily volume threshold. This figure marks the highest single-day trading volume since the protocol’s launch in October 2025.
The spike in trading volume occurred mainly during the last week of January, when gold prices broke above $5,000 per ounce for the first time and silver crossed the psychologically significant $100 mark.
Platform Evolution
Behind this trading boom lies Hyperliquid’s strategic shift from a single exchange to a comprehensive trading platform. The HIP-3 upgrade fundamentally redefined its operating model.
Market analysis shows that HIP-3 transformed Hyperliquid from a purely crypto-native perpetuals platform into a "universal asset trading layer." Silver and gold now rank among the top five assets traded on the platform. This shift has significantly changed market perceptions of Hyperliquid, as surging precious metals volumes have redefined its positioning.
Market Structure
Within the HIP-3 market, TradeXYZ dominates as the lead deployer, holding an almost monopolistic position through perpetual contracts for precious metals, stock indices, and individual equities. Data indicates that TradeXYZ’s open interest on HIP-3 once hit a historic high of $1.06 billion, with 87% attributed to this provider.
Even after a market correction, HIP-3’s open interest remains around $665 million—an 88% increase month-over-month. This concentration reflects early participants’ advantages while highlighting the challenges for new entrants.
Technical Mechanism
HIP-3’s core innovation is its permissionless market creation mechanism. According to the protocol’s design, any qualified participant can launch a perpetual futures market on Hyperliquid’s infrastructure without centralized listing approval.
To become a market deployer, one must stake 500,000 HYPE tokens on HyperCore to activate a perpetual futures exchange. This entry requirement is equivalent to over $20 million in value. The system integrates with HyperEVM, supporting smart contracts and governance functions, and employs multiple risk management measures.
Ecosystem Impact
The HIP-3 launch has profoundly influenced the entire Hyperliquid ecosystem. First, its high staking threshold creates sustained buying pressure and value support for the HYPE token. Each market deployment requires locking up 500,000 HYPE, directly reducing circulating supply.
Second, HIP-3 enables third-party projects to leverage Hyperliquid’s on-chain infrastructure, facilitating permissionless deployment, simplifying market creation, and expanding user access to new financial products.
Price Performance
According to Gate market data, as of February 11, 2026, Hyperliquid’s native token HYPE trades at $28.77, with a market cap of $6.86B and a market share of 1.13%.
HYPE’s price changed -6.88% over the past 24 hours and -14.51% in the past 7 days, but it still posted +15.68% growth over the past 30 days and +23.25% over the past year.
From a price prediction perspective, analysts expect HYPE’s average price to hover around $28.78 in 2026, ranging from $20.14 to $35.4. Long-term projections suggest HYPE could reach $70.74 by 2031, implying a potential return of +81.00% compared to current levels.
Industry Context
Compared to traditional financial markets, Hyperliquid’s performance in the precious metals sector is increasingly noteworthy. HIP-3’s gold and silver trading volumes have reached about 1% of those on COMEX—the world’s largest metals derivatives exchange. This proportion underscores the growing influence of decentralized trading platforms in traditional asset markets.
Meanwhile, mainstream crypto markets have recently moved in a different direction. Bitcoin currently trades at $68,251 with a market cap of $1.38T, and Ethereum stands at $2,006.87 with a market cap of $252.82B. In contrast to HYPE’s positive monthly growth, Bitcoin and Ethereum dropped -23.78% and -32.22% respectively over the past 30 days.
Behind Hyperliquid HIP-3’s record-setting trading volume, precious metals contracts account for a striking 68%. The platform’s open interest peaked at $1.06 billion before the price correction and still holds at $665 million, up 88% month-over-month. As gold and silver price swings attract global traders, this blockchain-based derivatives platform quietly processed trading volumes equivalent to about 1% of COMEX—the world’s largest metals exchange.
The battleground for decentralized exchanges is steadily expanding from crypto assets to the broader global financial markets.
