Hyperliquid hits new record high amid rising trading volumes and institutional demand

Hyperliquid’s native token HYPE surged to a fresh all-time high above $62 on Thursday, driven by strong institutional inflows and sustained momentum in decentralized perpetual futures volume.

The exchange remains the clear leader in the perpetual decentralized exchange (DEX) sector, controlling roughly 55% of total value locked (TVL) among decentralized perpetual exchanges. Its own TVL stood at $4.7 billion as of April 30, out of an estimated $7 billion across the entire sector.

Hyperliquid commands 55% of perpetual DEX TVL amid sector growth

The platform processed around $190 billion in trading volume in April alone, accounting for approximately 3.9% of total global perpetual exchange activity and placing it among the top 10 venues overall.

The rapid growth has been fueled by real-world asset (RWA) perpetuals and commodity-linked contracts, with commodities now representing about 30% of its open interest. The ability to trade assets such as Oil 24/7 has proven particularly attractive to users seeking broader market exposure.

Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley recently highlighted strong investor appetite for Hyperliquid exposure, noting $8.8 million in inflows into the Bitwise Hyperliquid ETF (BHYP) on Wednesday, alongside $18.5 million in trading volume.

Bitwise previously stated it will begin allocating 10% of the ETF’s management fees toward holding HYPE on its balance sheet. The move mirrors Hyperliquid’s own tokenomics model, where 99% of blockchain revenue is directed toward buybacks, token burns, and ecosystem incentives.

Grayscale also reportedly purchased $10 million in HYPE, adding to the surge in institutional inflows over the past week, according to on-chain data.

The platform’s rise comes amid a broader structural shift toward decentralized derivatives trading.

The top 12 perpetual DEXes recorded an average monthly trading volume of $611.57 billion in the first four months of 2026, up from $531.65 billion in 2025, according to CoinGecko’s perpetuals report on Thursday.

This growth contrasts with centralized exchanges. The top 11 perpetual CEXes saw average monthly volumes fall 34%, declining from $7.11 trillion in 2025 to $4.69 trillion year-to-date.

As a result, the perp DEX-to-CEX volume ratio remains elevated at around 10% as of April 2026, after peaking at 13% in late 2025. This signals sustained user migration toward decentralized platforms.

Perpetual DEXes are also capturing a growing share of futures positioning. Their share of total crypto open interest (OI) has climbed to 13.5% as of late April, even as overall market OI declined from $120.35 billion at the start of 2025 to $99.09 billion.

Meanwhile, exchanges like MEXC and BingX have led the way in new perpetual contract listings between January 2025 and April 2026, adding 879 and 565 pairs, respectively, with a focus on longer-tail assets.

HYPE is trading at $58, up 7% at the time of writing, with weekly gains surging to 32%. Short liquidations on HYPE futures also surged to $37 million, according to Coinglass data, with popular short trader loracle down $30 million across his HYPE short positions.