Hyperliquid Expands its Offering with Spot Trading on Ethereum
Decentralized exchange platform Hyperliquid is expanding its services to include spot trading on Ethereum (ETH) through direct deposits and withdrawals. Previously focused on perpetual contracts, the platform is now making a strategic shift, just weeks after launching spot trading for BTC and connecting its high-performance Layer 1, HyperCore, with its EVM-compatible development environment, HyperEVM.
With this development, users can now transfer ETH to the Hyperliquid trading interface and Hyperunit, the asset tokenization layer of the protocol that is already compatible with BTC and SOL. This showcases the project’s ambition to offer a seamless and interoperable experience without compromising on technical performance.
HyperEVM and HyperCore: The Game-Changing Fusion
The connection between HyperCore and HyperEVM marks a technical milestone for Hyperliquid. Previously isolated, these two components now allow Hyperliquid to combine the speed of its proprietary L1 with the flexibility of EVM-based development. This convergence aims to attract web3 developers in need of a high-performance environment for deploying their smart contracts.
Hyperliquid has become one of the recent success stories in the DeFi space, particularly after the high-profile airdrop of 1.2 billion HYPE tokens in November. These tokens, functioning as gas tokens on the platform, currently trade around $14.15.
Strengthening Risk Management After the JELLYJELLY Incident
Despite its success, Hyperliquid has faced criticism from the crypto community. Centralized elements of the protocol, such as opaque code, validator selection, and reliance on a closed API, have been called into question. Concerns were heightened this week following the manipulation of the memecoin Solana’s perpetual market by a whale manipulating on-chain prices.
In response, Hyperliquid delisted the affected market and announced full refunds to long traders at settlement, with a fixed closing price of 0.037555 – a favorable level. Only certain suspicious addresses are excluded from this measure.
However, beyond the act of restitution, the incident prompted a thorough revamp of the platform’s security mechanisms:
- Liquidator Vault (HLP): Implementing tighter caps, less frequent rebalancing, and improved logic for critical liquidations.
- Dynamic OI Caps: Open interest caps will now be adjusted based on token capitalization.
- On-chain Delistings: Validators will vote on-chain to remove assets deemed too risky.
An Endurance Strategy in an Unstable Market
Hyperliquid aims to protect against extreme events that could destabilize the entire ecosystem. By implementing these safeguards, the platform seeks to demonstrate that a DEX can balance innovation, scalability, and resilience. However, it remains to be seen whether the community will embrace this hybrid model of technical performance and enhanced control in an industry where transparency is a fundamental requirement.
