Hyperliquid gains on centralized exchanges as open interest crosses $18B

Hyperliquid's (HYPE) open interest climbed to a record $18.1 billion in September as the decentralized exchange gained ground against major centralized trading platforms, with its share of combined open interest across eight leading exchanges rising to 11.7% in Q3.

Hyperliquid derivatives market share sees Q3 expansion

The September 22 peak came as traders rebuilt positions in Hyperliquid's native derivatives markets, reversing the dominance of its HIP-3 markets, which offer perpetual futures tied to traditional assets such as equities, indices and commodities, according to its Q3 report released Thursday.

Open interest stood at $16.7 billion at the end of September, up 79.9% from $9.31 billion at the end of June. Average open interest also increased 46.4% quarter over quarter to $12.7 billion.

The report noted that the September peak was "carried by the core book," referring to the platform's native derivatives markets.

Hyperliquid's share of open interest across the eight largest centralized exchanges and the platform itself rose to 11.7% at the end of September, up from 9.6% at the end of June. The exchange moved past Kraken and Bybit on August 12 before surpassing OKX on September 17. Its open interest also exceeded HTX in May, according to the report.

However, the gap between Hyperliquid and the largest centralized exchanges remains substantial. At quarter-end, its open interest stood at 93% of Bitget's and 27% of Binance's.

Native markets drive open interest expansion

The composition of Hyperliquid's open interest changed during the quarter as activity shifted back toward its native crypto markets.

HIP-3 generated $262 billion in perpetual futures volume, up 23% from the previous quarter and accounting for 35.9% of the platform's matched volume. However, its share of Hyperliquid's perpetual trading activity fell from 51.1% in July to 24.5% in September.

The report linked this reversal to a recovery in native trading volume, which increased 72% from its July low.

HIP-3 open interest ended September at $3.94 billion, up 27.4% from June. However, its share of Hyperliquid's total open interest declined from roughly one-third to 23.5% as native positions recovered more quickly.

Equities remained the largest HIP-3 asset class, generating $153.8 billion in quarterly volume, a 160.8% increase from Q2. Commodities, by comparison, declined 47.7% to $45.6 billion.

​The expansion in open interest also coincided with stronger participation across the exchange.

Hyperliquid averaged 65,161 daily traders in Q3, a 20% increase from the previous quarter and its third consecutive quarterly record. New traders rose 14.5% to 362,611.

Matched trading volume reached $730.6 billion, up 9.3% quarter over quarter, although it remained 30.5% below the same period last year.

The report also recorded $953 million in net bridge outflows during the quarter, following two consecutive quarters of net inflows. However, it argued that the withdrawals did not indicate a decline in trading activity, pointing instead to profit-taking during the market rally.

Hyperliquid technical outlook: HYPE continues to face descending trendline resistance

On the daily chart, HYPE trades at $72.13, extending a bearish bias as price remains below the 20-day, 50-day and 100-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs), clustered between $77.44 and $80.26 as overhead resistance. The downward resistance trendline, with a break reference at $75.12, continues to cap recovery attempts. At the same time, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) near 35 and a deeply oversold Stochastic near 9 suggest selling pressure is strong but may be nearing exhaustion rather than signaling a confirmed reversal.

On the downside, immediate support is seen at the horizontal level of $67.63, ahead of deeper floors at $61.16 and $51.57, with a more distant structural base near $33.20. On the topside, initial resistance is located at the trendline resistance area around $75.12 and the nearby horizontal barrier at $75.69, followed by the long- and short-term EMA cluster. Stronger upside hurdles align at $85.04 and then $97.84.

(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)