What happened?
Hyperliquid activated the HIP-3 upgrade, making the protocol permissionless so qualified developers can now deploy perpetual markets on-chain. Builders must stake 500,000 HYPE as a bond, supply their own liquidity, oracles, and front-ends, and can earn up to 50% of trading fees. The upgrade, which went live on October 13, 2025, also ties into HyperEVM and HyperCore for smart-contract support and high-performance matching.
Who does this affect?
Developers and teams who want to launch perpetual DEXs are the primary winners, because they can now spin up markets without centralized approval. Market makers, liquidity providers, and projects building new asset contracts (like pre-IPO equities, commodities, or prediction markets) will be directly involved since they need to supply liquidity and infrastructure. Centralized exchanges and their listing businesses are also affected, as on-chain listing options and transparency make it easier for projects to avoid costly CEX deals.
Why does this matter?
This matters because HIP-3 lowers the cost and time to create derivative markets, which could redirect liquidity and listings away from centralized exchanges and reshape listing economics. By letting builders earn fees and plug into shared, high-throughput infrastructure, the upgrade could accelerate the launch of new markets across multiple asset types and increase competition between ecosystems. Given Hyperliquid’s big share of decentralized perpetuals and sub-second finality, the change could meaningfully shift trading volume and pricing power in the derivatives market.