Hyperliquid’s open interest has topped 18 billion USD for the first time, setting a fresh record just four days after its previous all-time high — and roughly 5 billion USD above where outstanding positions stood at the end of August, as the platform’s expansion into stocks, commodities and indices through HIP 3 keeps pulling capital into its on-chain derivatives engine.
By David Chen | September 23, 2026
According to Lookonchain, citing official Hyperliquid data, open interest on the layer-1 perp DEX reached 18 billion USD on September 23, beating the previous record of 16.36 billion USD set on September 19 — a level that had itself only just surpassed the prior high recorded on September 18, 2025. The figure represents bilateral open interest, meaning it counts the combined value of long and short positions on the platform.
The pace of the climb is as notable as the number. DefiLlama Research placed Hyperliquid’s open interest at more than 13 billion USD on August 31, when the platform was processing roughly 220 billion USD in perpetual trading volume per month. The latest reading means outstanding positions have grown by close to 5 billion USD in under a month.
Where the positions sit
Crypto perpetuals still hold the largest books on the platform. HyperIntel data from September 23 put Bitcoin open interest at roughly 4.05 billion USD, followed by Ether at 3.18 billion USD and the platform’s native HYPE token at 2.10 billion USD. Together the three assets account for roughly 9.33 billion USD in outstanding positions. Zcash carried around 858.6 million USD and Solana approximately 763.7 million USD.
But the real growth story is the non-crypto side. An S&P 500-linked perpetual held roughly 418.9 million USD in open interest, while a gold market stood near 301.7 million USD — positions that simply did not exist on any decentralized venue at this scale a year ago.
HIP 3: the market factory behind the record
HIP 3, launched in October 2025, lets third-party developers stake HYPE and deploy their own perpetual markets on Hyperliquid, using the platform’s HyperCore infrastructure for trading and margining. Deployers choose their own oracles and parameters such as leverage. Markets launched through the framework now cover U.S. equities, stock indices, gold, crude oil and even private companies — SpaceX exposure has been represented through pre-IPO perpetual contracts.
By early September, cumulative trading volume across HIP 3 markets had passed 548 billion USD, according to data cited by Lookonchain, and HIP 3 markets accounted for roughly 30% of Hyperliquid’s total trading volume during the preceding 30 days. Deployer TradeXYZ alone processed 202.36 billion USD in volume during the second quarter, up from 112.93 billion USD in the prior quarter, with 58.9 billion USD of that coming from equity perpetuals across 55 markets.
The framework has kept evolving. Hyperliquid has tested permissioned HIP 3 markets, allowing deployers to restrict access through on-chain allowlists without changing the existing permissionless markets — a feature with obvious appeal for regulated entities.
From prediction markets to regulated U.S. perps
The record open interest reflects a broader product blitz. HIP 4, introduced in May, added event contracts — markets based on outcomes rather than underlying prices — and third-party deployment of those markets opened at the end of August. Native lending now lets users borrow USDC and USDT against supported collateral, and on September 21 the platform rolled out trailing stops across its perpetual markets, an order type that follows the best price reached after activation.
The most consequential development may still be ahead. Payward, Kraken’s parent company, announced this month that Bitnomial would deploy and administer proposed Hyperliquid perpetual markets for eligible U.S. clients, subject to regulatory approval. Under the proposed structure, Bitnomial Exchange would operate as the HIP 3 deployer, Bitnomial Clearinghouse would handle clearing and settlement, and NinjaTrader Clearing would carry approved customer accounts — a design meant to operate under U.S. derivatives rules.
The verdict: leverage is building, on-chain
For DeFi, an 18 billion USD open-interest book on a single on-chain venue is a landmark: it puts Hyperliquid in the same conversation as the largest centralized derivatives exchanges, with transparent settlement and self-custody as differentiators. For traders, the flip side is that record open interest means record leverage — fuel for both directions once volatility arrives. Sustained growth will depend on the HIP 3 pipeline continuing to deliver new markets, and on the regulated U.S. structure actually clearing its approvals. But as a signal of where derivatives liquidity is migrating, the number speaks for itself.
Market snapshot (CoinGecko, Sept. 23): BTC 85,636 USD, ETH 2,727 USD, SOL 117 USD.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Crypto assets are volatile and readers should do their own research.
18B bilateral OI, up 5B in under a month. one chain holding that much leveraged exposure with no circuit breakers is gonna be a hell of a stress test someday
this. HIP 3 builder markets pulling gold and equities onchain is cool until the first 2B liquidation cascade hits
16.36B record lasted four days lol. the pace here is the story, not the number
that and the 220B monthly perp volume from the defillama datapoint. feeding frenzy
18b bilateral oi on a perp dex, up 5b in under a month. the gold perp at 300m and spx at 418m are the numbers that should have cme losing sleep tbh
^ the growth is all on the non-crypto side. HIP 3 builder-deployed markets on stocks and indices barely existed a year ago, this is a whole new venue class
gold at 301m vs spx at 418m also tells you who the actual user is. macro desks, not meme traders
ZEC at 858m oi is the sleeper number here. that is more than SOL books on the platform
18b of leverage sitting on one l1. one bad oracle print and this record becomes a liquidation cascade headline
cope harder, hlp has eaten every cascade so far lol
eaten them so far. one 2021-style wick on the spx perp and hlp is the only bid left, we will see how funny it is then
HIP 3 markets for stocks and gold doing the heavy lifting. if they get equity perps right the CEX lobby has a real problem