Hyperliquid real-world asset trading surpasses all other categories

For the first time, trading in real-world assets (RWAs) on the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid has surpassed all other categories, with over $25 billion in weekly volume. This milestone, driven by interest in stocks like SK Hynix, was hailed by ARK Invest as a "new era for DeFi" and a "major structural shift" by Circle's CEO, suggesting a future where tokenized traditional assets trade on dedicated platforms.

RWA trading volume milestone

• ▪In the month leading up to the milestone, the number of RWA holders on Hyperliquid grew by 32% to 1.25 million users
• ▪ARK Invest's Lorenzo Valente reported Hyperliquid's RWA trading volume for the same week was $26 billion, representing 54% of the total
• ▪The week of July 13-19 marked the first time that trading in non-crypto assets dominated the Hyperliquid exchange
• ▪From July 13-19, real-world asset (RWA) trading on Hyperliquid reached $25.1 billion, accounting for 52% of the exchange's $48.2 billion total weekly volume
• ▪Hyperliquid's RWA trading volume alone surpassed the combined crypto perpetual volume of all other decentralized exchanges

HIP-3 marketplace framework

• ▪Hyperliquid's HIP-3 framework, launched in October 2025, allows third-party teams to create their own perpetual markets on the platform
• ▪Since June, individual stocks have overtaken indices and commodities within HIP-3, now comprising 61% of all RWA trading
• ▪To access the HIP-3 system, builders are required to stake 500,000 HYPE tokens, valued at approximately $30 million

SK Hynix dominance

• ▪South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix was the most-traded stock and drove most of the RWA trading interest on Hyperliquid
• ▪SK Hynix competes with Samsung in supplying DRAM and high-bandwidth memory for artificial intelligence systems

ARK Invest perspective

• ▪Valente suggested that RWA trading may not aggregate on the same venues as crypto, with dedicated category leaders potentially emerging
• ▪Circle co-founder Jeremy Allaire called the growth in RWA trading on Hyperliquid a "major structural shift" for crypto markets
• ▪Pantera Capital said in July that perpetual futures could become a dominant trading instrument beyond crypto due to advantages like 24/7 trading
• ▪Lorenzo Valente, a director at ARK Invest, declared "We are entering a new era for DeFi" in response to the RWA volume milestone