The code sparked strong interest among Solana users who hoped for a native rival to Hyperliquid.
Solana Co-Founder Anatoly Yakovenko surprised the crypto community after uploading code for a new perpetual futures exchange. The repository, titled “Percolator,” appeared briefly on GitHub and triggered immediate speculation. However, Yakovenko later clarified he had no intention of launching the project himself.
Solana Co-Founder Yakovenko uploaded a codebase that seemed to outline a decentralized perpetual futures exchange called Percolator. He confirmed it was a byproduct of experimenting with AI and became public accidentally. “Just messing around with Claude,” he posted, denying any official project launch.
Still, interest surged rapidly within Solana circles as users reviewed the code and speculated on its readiness. According to Yakovenko, the design featured a self-custodial, “sharded” model for decentralized futures trading. He encouraged developers to fork the code, saying, “steal the idea and run with it.”
The code’s sudden appearance fueled hopes for a Hyperliquid rival developed directly on Solana’s high-speed blockchain. Although the Solana Co-Founder dismissed the repo as experimental, the excitement it generated showed strong demand. Developers praised the technical novelty, while traders imagined new opportunities on Solana.
Perpetual futures allow traders to speculate on price movement without owning the actual asset. These contracts enable both long and short positions, often with extreme leverage. Exchanges offering perps continue to attract large volumes and attention.
Currently, Hyperliquid leads the market in decentralized perpetual futures volume and user growth. However, rivals like Aster and Avantis have also expanded rapidly in recent months. Aster operates on several networks but holds a strong position on the BNB Chain.
The Solana Co-Founder’s accidental reveal came as perp exchanges battle over leverage limits and innovation. Aster allows 1,001x leverage on Bitcoin, compared to Hyperliquid’s 40x. This fierce competition has raised concerns about potential systemic risks in crypto markets.
Following the public code drop, Solana users launched a meme coin named after the Percolator GitHub repo. It initially soared to a $6.23 million market cap before sharply reversing. After the Solana Co-Founder denied building the exchange, the coin lost nearly 80% of its value.
Yakovenko responded to the hype by joking,
“Make one repo public on accident and the whole world goes nuts.”
Still, community members saw potential in the concept and expressed interest in building it themselves. Solana Co-Founder’s accidental release effectively seeded a new idea in the ecosystem.
Helius Labs founder Mert Mumtaz wrote,
“If your chain founder isn’t vibe coding perps DEXs on the side, it’s time to look for a new chain.”
The Solana Co-Founder has since moved on, but the developer community remains energized. Whether Percolator becomes a real product now lies with independent builders.
