--- title: "Hyperliquid" url: "https://caper.network/wiki/daos/dexs/hyperliquid" updated: 2026-09-10 license: CC-BY-4.0 license_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" --- # Hyperliquid | | | | --- | --- | | **Organization** | Hyperliquid | | **Type** | Perpetuals DEX on a purpose-built Layer 1 | | **Status** | ๐ŸŸข Active | | **Founded** | 2023; HYPE genesis distribution November 2024 | | **Token** | HYPE โ€” gas, staking, fee buybacks, governance | | **Chain** | Hyperliquid L1 โ€” HyperCore + HyperEVM, HyperBFT consensus | | **Distinctive** | No-VC, fully-unlocked airdrop; Assistance Fund buyback | | **Website** | [hyperliquid.xyz](https://hyperliquid.xyz) | | **Related** | [dYdX](/wiki/daos/dexs/dydx), [GMX](/wiki/daos/dexs/gmx), [Jupiter](/wiki/daos/dexs/jupiter), [DAO directory](/wiki/daos) | **Hyperliquid** is a decentralized perpetual-futures exchange that runs on its own high-performance Layer 1 blockchain. Like [dYdX](/wiki/daos/dexs/dydx), it belongs to the **app-chain perps** archetype โ€” the whole exchange, order book included, lives on-chain rather than on a shared general-purpose network โ€” but it is best known for two things beyond the technology: a token launch with _no venture-capital allocation_, and a fee mechanism that continuously buys its own token back out of trading revenue. The protocol reached mainnet in 2023 and distributed its [HYPE](https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/) token in November 2024. Its rise made it one of the most-watched cases in DeFi for a live debate this wiki covers throughout: where real power and value in a "community-owned" protocol actually sit. ## HyperCore and HyperEVM Per the [official documentation](https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/), Hyperliquid's state is split into two parts. **HyperCore** is the trading engine โ€” an on-chain central-limit order book for perpetuals and spot with one-block finality, built to handle order flow at centralized-exchange speeds. **HyperEVM** wraps that liquidity in a fully Ethereum-compatible smart-contract layer, so builders can deploy apps that draw directly on HyperCore's markets. Both are secured by **HyperBFT**, a custom consensus algorithm the docs describe as "inspired by HotStuff and its successors." The design goal is to remove the usual trade-off in on-chain trading: keep the performance and UX of an off-chain order book while settling everything transparently on a chain the community secures. ## The HYPE token and the Assistance Fund HYPE has a fixed maximum supply of 1 billion tokens. Its launch is the part most often cited: roughly **31% of supply went to about 94,000 users** in the November 2024 genesis airdrop, fully unlocked, with **no allocation to venture investors** โ€” an unusually community-weighted distribution for a protocol of its size. The token does the ordinary L1 jobs โ€” it pays gas on HyperEVM (with EIP-1559 fee burning), and validators stake it (with delegation) to secure HyperBFT consensus. Its signature feature is the **Assistance Fund**: a large share of protocol trading fees is routed into automated open-market purchases of HYPE. This turns exchange usage directly into buy pressure on the token โ€” a protocol-level analogue of the buybacks [dYdX](/wiki/daos/dexs/dydx) and others adopted, but hard-wired into fee flow rather than voted on each period. ## Governance: powerful token, lighter DAO Hyperliquid is a useful counter-example to the assumption that "on-chain protocol" means "full on-chain DAO." HYPE carries real influence โ€” holders stake to secure the chain and can vote on **Hyperliquid Improvement Proposals (HIPs)** and on validator-level decisions โ€” but day-to-day direction has stayed close to the core team and the Hyper Foundation, and the protocol has not (yet) devolved treasury and roadmap control to a token vote the way a mature [governance-model](/wiki/dao-governance/concepts/fundamentals/dao-governance-models) DAO does. Whether that is a bootstrapping phase on the way to [progressive decentralization](/wiki/dao-governance/concepts/fundamentals/progressive-decentralization) or a durable design choice is exactly the kind of [on-chain-vs-off-chain](/wiki/dao-governance/concepts/fundamentals/on-chain-vs-off-chain-governance) question the token's market value tends to gloss over. ### How Caper approaches this Hyperliquid shows how much a community can rally around a fair-looking launch and a token that captures fees โ€” and also how far "holding the token" can sit from "steering the organization." [Caper](/wiki/foundations/what-is-a-caper) is built around closing that gap. Two differences are concrete. First, value comes back to holders as a right, not a policy: instead of a discretionary buyback, every holder who has voted or traded has an always-open [exit](/wiki/dao-governance/concepts/membership/rage-quit-and-exit-rights) โ€” burn your stake, redeem a weighted slice of the treasury. Second, that slice is sized by the same canonical vote weight `(tยทv)/(VยทT)` that governs your votes, so the influence you hold and the value you can withdraw are measured identically โ€” there is no gap between the two for a foundation to occupy.