Hyperliquid’s validators are voting to handpick a team that will build a compliant dollar for the platform, while an 80% fee cut invites the world to trade cheaply on infrastructure they collectively govern.
Decentralized perpetual futures exchange Hyperliquid is preparing to roll out its first native stablecoin while slashing spot trading fees by 80%, in a move designed to boost liquidity and deepen its hold over the decentralized finance (DeFi) derivatives market.
The exchange announced on Discord that the next network upgrade will cut taker fees, maker rebates, and user volume contribution for spot pairs between two quote assets by four-fifths.
Alongside the fee changes, Hyperliquid has reserved the USDH ticker for a new dollar-backed stablecoin, which will be allocated through a validator vote.
Teams seeking to issue USDH must submit proposals including their deployment address, with the winning bid to be selected by validator quorum in a fully on-chain process.
USDH is intended as a “Hyperliquid-first” compliant stablecoin that will integrate across the platform’s ecosystem, including perpetuals, spot markets, staking, and protocols such as Kinetiq, Hypurrfi, and Hyperlend.
The exchange described stablecoins as the “backbone of any L1,” with USDH expected to serve as a settlement layer that can expand total value locked (TVL) across DeFi applications.
Source: Hyperliquid Discord
Revenue is expected to accrue internally through mint and burn fees, collateralized lending flows, and native on- and off-ramps, creating a self-reinforcing “stablecoin flywheel.”
The launch comes as regulators in the United States, including the Treasury Department, seek feedback on the GENIUS Act, a legislative framework for stablecoin oversight.
Hyperliquid’s decision to put the stablecoin under validator control highlights its bid to align with regulatory expectations while reinforcing its decentralized governance model.
Hyperliquid’s expansion into stablecoins follows a record-breaking summer. The platform reported $106 million in revenue from perpetual futures trading in August, a 23% increase from July’s $86.6 million, according to DefiLlama.
Monthly trading volume surged to $383 billion, lifting its annualized revenue to $1.25 billion and cementing a 70% market share among DeFi perpetual platforms. Cumulative trading volume has now exceeded $2.57 trillion.
Source: DefiLlama
Despite its scale, Hyperliquid operates with just 11 employees, relying on automation and smart contracts to handle functions such as settlement, reconciliation, compliance, and customer operations.
The lean model has produced efficiency ratios far ahead of traditional payment firms. PayPal, which employs 29,000 staff, processes $1.6 trillion annually, while Visa requires 28,000 workers for $13 trillion. By comparison, Hyperliquid manages over $330 billion in yearly volume with a fraction of the headcount.
