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LearnStart here4 pages
How these docs workFoundationHow the site is organised by what you came to do, how every page runs from first principles to engineering detail, and where every fact comes from.Hyperliquid in five minutesFoundationHyperliquid is a set of financial primitives and protocols that combine into one financial system. Build a financial system from nothing, and each Hyperliquid protocol takes its place in it.The house of finance, layer by layerFoundationHyperliquid drawn as a house: one consensus, two engines joined by two bridges, an accounts layer, six financial pillars, a distribution layer that pays others to build, and Hyperliquid itself on top.Traditional finance, pillar by pillarFoundationEvery part of Hyperliquid has a traditional finance counterpart, and each analogy breaks in a specific place that shows what is actually new.
LearnFirst principles5 pages
Why Hyperliquid runs on its own chainFoundationHyperliquid built its own chain so that order books, margin and matching run fully on chain, in one consensus order, fast enough to trade on and with no off-chain book.One chain, two execution environmentsFoundationHyperCore holds the markets as native state and the HyperEVM runs contracts; one HyperBFT consensus orders both, joined by precompiles and CoreWriter.What an on-chain order book actually meansFoundationEvery order, cancel and fill is a transaction ordered by consensus and executed by every node, so the book is public chain state, not a private database.Ordering, finality and fairnessPractitionerHyperBFT gives every honest node one ordered list of committed rounds, a committed block is final, and each block runs cancels before GTC and IOC orders.HYPE: what the token doesFoundationHYPE pays HyperEVM gas, secures consensus, discounts fees, bonds deployers, backs borrowing, and is what the Assistance Fund converts fees into and burns.
LearnConsensus and validators4 pages
HyperBFTPractitionerHyperBFT is Hyperliquid's HotStuff-derived proof-of-stake consensus: stake-weighted validators commit rounds that every honest node executes in the same order.Validators and delegationPractitionerValidators run HyperBFT, ranked by stake; delegators choose them, pay commission, earn nothing while one is jailed and face no automatic slashing yet.Staking HYPE, rewards and the unstaking queueFoundationStaked HYPE is delegated to validators for compounding rewards and fee discounts; getting it back to spot takes a 7-day queue on mainnet.Running a nodeExpertA non-validating node follows consensus and writes every committed transaction, fill, order status, book change and HyperEVM block to local disk.
LearnHyperCore8 pages
HyperCore overviewFoundationHyperCore is where Hyperliquid's order books, margin, clearing and settlement run as native protocol state, applied by every validator in one order.The clearinghouse: one margin enginePractitionerHyperCore's clearinghouse holds balances and positions and checks margin on every trade; in standard mode each perp dex has its own balance and cross margin.The order book and matchingPractitionerEach HyperCore asset has one on-chain book matched in price-time priority, with cancels and post-only orders sequenced ahead of orders that take liquidity.Oracles, mark prices and robust price indicesPractitionerValidators publish perp oracle prices every 3 seconds; the mark price used for margin and liquidation is a median that no single book or venue can move.Quote assets: USDC, USDH, aligned and permissionlessPractitionerAny token can become a HyperCore quote asset if its issuer stakes 200k HYPE against a peg and liquidity standard; aligned issuers also share reserve yield.Vaults: HLP, protocol vaults, user vaultsFoundationA vault pools depositors' USDC into one HyperCore account run by one strategy; HLP is the protocol vault that makes markets and performs liquidations.Multi-sig accountsPractitionerHyperCore can make any account a native k-of-n multi-sig with no smart contract, but CoreWriter stops working for it and its HyperEVM side keeps the old key.API servers and how state reaches youPractitionerAPI servers follow a node, keep a local copy of HyperCore state, answer reads from it, and reply to a transaction only once it executes in a committed block.
LearnResearch5 pages
What one HyperEVM transaction can and cannot doExpertOne HyperEVM transaction can read HyperCore and emit a perp order and an outcome operation, but it only enqueues them, so the legs are not atomic.Options on the borrow rateExpertA research track priced the HyperCore USDC borrow rate with HIP-4 scalar bands, listed them on somebody else's perp, and found owning the perp does not pay.Composable creditExpertA research track tokenised HyperCore lending positions as HyperEVM ERC20s, proved a contract can supply on testnet, and found the vault must be a queue, not a wrapper.Collateral underwritingExpertA research track found the protocol refuses a deployer stake posted by somebody else, and rebuilt underwriting as two-of-two co-custody of the deployer's own bond.Where the chain and the docs disagreeExpertEvery place where measured behaviour on Hyperliquid contradicts the official docs: what the docs say, what was measured, the sample and the covering page.
LearnFor the press4 pages
Start here: press and analystsFoundationFor people writing about Hyperliquid: what it is, how to measure and name it correctly, and the stories behind the numbers.Measuring Hyperliquid: volume, open interest, usersFoundationPublic Hyperliquid figures disagree mostly because each counts the same fills differently; a number means something only with its rows and units.Common misconceptionsFoundationTwelve common claims about Hyperliquid that the official docs or on-chain measurement contradict, each with what is true and where it is explained.Naming and style guideFoundationWrite HyperCore, HyperEVM, HyperBFT, CoreWriter and HIP-1 to HIP-4 exactly, never shorten HyperCore to one word, and do not cite a HIP-5, because none exists.
LearnWhat Hyperliquid is and how it works
Start here
First principles
Consensus and validators
HyperCore
Research
For the press
TradeMarkets, margin and risk
Start here
Trading fundamentals
Perpetuals
Spot
Outcome markets
Accounts and credit
Advanced trading
Incentives
BuildApps, bots and contracts
Start here
Build on HyperCore
Build on the HyperEVM
DeployLaunch and run markets
Start here
The HIPs
Deploy markets
ReferenceEvery number, action and term
Look up
Protocol tables

Hyperliquid in five minutes

Foundation

Hyperliquid is a set of financial primitives and protocols that combine into one financial system. Build a financial system from nothing, and each Hyperliquid protocol takes its place in it.

Hyperliquid is a set of financial primitives and protocols that together form one financial system. It isn’t a blockchain with an exchange attached. Hyperliquid calls itself the house of all finance, and the picture fits: each protocol is one pillar of a financial system, and every pillar stands on the same foundation.

HyperBFT consensus HyperCore order books, margin, matching precompiles CoreWriter HyperEVM EVM contracts, same chain Accounts and risk margin modes, sub-accounts, multi-sig, API wallets 01 Spot currency HIP-1, HIP-2 02 Perps futures, swaps HIP-3 03 Outcomes options, insurance HIP-4 04 Lending money markets borrow, earn 05 Vaults funds HLP 06 Staking regulatory capital HYPE Builder codes fee share for apps Referrals fee share for referrers Fee tiers volume lowers fees Deployers new markets, shared fees Hyperliquid the interface layer and everything else within the stack 01 Consensus 02 Execution 03 Accounts 04 Primitives 05 Distribution 06 Interface HyperBFT consensus HyperCore matching engine read write HyperEVM EVM contracts Accounts and risk margin modes, sub-accounts, multi-sig, API wallets 01 Spot currency HIP-1, HIP-2 02 Perps futures, swaps HIP-3 03 Outcomes options, insurance HIP-4 04 Lending money markets borrow, earn 05 Vaults funds HLP 06 Staking regulatory capital HYPE Builder codes fee share for apps Referrals fee share for referrers Fee tiers volume lowers fees Deployers new markets, shared fees Hyperliquid the interface layer and everything else within the stack Consensus Execution Accounts Primitives Distribution Interface

Every financial system solves the same problems

Section titled “Every financial system solves the same problems”

Take the technology away and every financial system, from a village market to a global bank, does the same eight things, in roughly this order. Hyperliquid builds each one as a protocol.

  1. 01Currency
    Traditional finance

    A unit everyone accepts. A fisherman with 1,000 fish can buy land once both are priced in it.

    dollars, euros
    Hyperliquid

    Stablecoins. USDC is natively minted here; issuers of others stake HYPE, and AQAv2 issuers share reserve yield.

    USDCUSDT0AQAv2HYPE
  2. 02Somewhere to keep it
    Traditional finance

    A bank account: spend from it, save in it, borrow against it.

    current and savings accounts
    Hyperliquid

    Your HyperCore account, held under your own key. No custodian in between.

    accountssub-accountsmulti-sig
  3. 03Somewhere to trade it
    Traditional finance

    Exchanges where buyers and sellers meet at a price.

    stock and currency markets
    Hyperliquid

    Order books on chain: one matching engine for every market. Anyone can list a token.

    spotHIP-1HIP-2
  4. 04Lending and borrowing
    Traditional finance

    Savers earn interest; borrowers pay it, against collateral.

    loans, money markets
    Hyperliquid

    Supply USDC or USDT to earn; borrow them against HYPE or BTC. Utilisation sets the rate.

    borrowearn
  5. 05Managing risk
    Traditional finance

    Contracts on what happens next: fix a price, or insure an outcome.

    futures, options, insurance
    Hyperliquid

    Perps, including perp dexes any builder can deploy, and outcome markets that pay on events.

    perpsHIP-3HIP-4
  6. 06Pooling capital
    Traditional finance

    Many people's money, managed as one.

    funds, asset managers
    Hyperliquid

    Vaults. HLP, the protocol vault, makes markets and takes over liquidations.

    HLPuser vaults
  7. 07Keeping it safe
    Traditional finance

    Capital that absorbs losses, and rules that stop one failure spreading.

    capital rules, clearing houses
    Hyperliquid

    Staked HYPE secures consensus, deployers bond HYPE, and the clearinghouse liquidates early.

    stakingdeployer stakesliquidations
  8. 08Getting it to people
    Traditional finance

    Brokers and branches bring customers in for a share.

    brokers, introducers
    Hyperliquid

    Builder codes pay apps, referrals pay users, fee tiers reward volume, deployers add markets.

    builder codesreferralsfee tiersdeployers

Each HIP adds to a pillar

Section titled “Each HIP adds to a pillar”

HIPs are the standards that let anyone add to a pillar without asking permission. You don’t need a listing agreement; you meet the protocol’s rules.

Standard Creates Pillar
HIP-1 Native tokens, listed by public auction Currency and spot
HIP-2 Automatic liquidity for a new token A market from the first block
HIP-3 Perp dexes deployed by builders Managing risk: futures, swaps
HIP-4 Outcome markets that pay on events Managing risk: options, insurance
AQAv2 Stablecoins whose issuers share about 90% of reserve yield Currency

Lending, vaults, staking and accounts have no HIP. They’re built into HyperCore itself.

One account under every pillar

Section titled “One account under every pillar”

Across DeFi, these pillars are separate protocols, and each one holds its own deposits and collateral. On Hyperliquid, the same pillars stand on one account. You reach it from the Hyperliquid app or any other front end, and with a unified account one balance per asset backs your spot, perp and outcome positions.

Read one way, Hyperliquid is a microcosm of DeFi. Read the other way, DeFi is its macrocosm, and the HyperEVM is the door between the two.

SpotPerpsOutcomesLendingVaultsStakingyour capital
DeFi at largeEach pillar is its own protocol, with its own deposits, collateral and liquidity. Capital goes in separately to each.
HyperliquidSpotPerpsOutcomesLendingVaultsStakingone accountyour capital
HyperliquidThe same pillars on one account, reachable from any front end. With a unified account, one balance per asset backs spot, perps and outcomes.

The numbers

Section titled “The numbers”
Item Value
Consensus HyperBFT, derived from HotStuff
Order throughput, per the docs about 200,000 orders per second
Latency, co-located client, per the docs median 0.2 s, 99th percentile 0.9 s
Oracle prices every 3 s, stake-weighted median of validators
Perp funding every hour
Perp fees, lowest tier 0.045% taker, 0.015% maker
HyperEVM chain id 999
Stake to deploy a perp dex (HIP-3) or outcomes (HIP-4) 500,000 HYPE, at least 183 days

Where to go next

Section titled “Where to go next”

Pick the reason you came, and the path opens on the same house with your place in it marked.

TradeSpot, perps and outcome markets, margin, funding and liquidation.Build an app or front endThe API, signing, builder codes, and contracts on the HyperEVM.Deploy marketsRun a perp dex under HIP-3 or outcome markets under HIP-4.Understand HyperliquidWhat it is, how the house is built, and why it matters.

Writing about Hyperliquid? Start here for press and analysts.