Hyperliquid's Onchain Perps Lead Could Narrow as Traditional Exchanges Eye the Market

Arthur Hayes said Hyperliquid has surged to the top tier of the onchain perpetuals market over the past two years, but warned the edge may prove difficult to sustain as real-world asset (RWA) derivatives draw increasing attention, according to CoinDesk. Hayes argued that a key driver of the platform's recent momentum has been demand for weekend trading in traditional assets such as crude oil, where liquidity can be thinner and price swings pronounced. He said the activity has pushed more traders to revisit how effectively crypto-native venues can contribute to price discovery. Following an upgrade in October 2025, Hyperliquid began offering derivatives linked to RWAs including gold and silver. The platform said this week that total open interest across these RWA-linked markets has reached $3 billion. CoinDesk also highlighted Hyperliquid's buyback-and-burn design, which uses trading fee revenue to repurchase HYPE tokens on the open market and permanently remove a portion from circulation. Hayes said the mechanism supports scarcity but could come under strain if trading volumes drop sharply. Data from a Dune dashboard show Hyperliquid has repurchased a combined 26.6 million HYPE tokens and burned about 579,600. At current prices, the repurchases are estimated at roughly $1.56 billion. Hayes, previously a vocal supporter of HYPE when it set fresh highs, said on social media the day after the interview that he had sold his entire position. HYPE is trading around $59, down about 14% over the past seven days, after peaking above $75 last week. He added that major U.S. exchanges are accelerating efforts to enter the perpetual futures arena. Perpetual contracts have no expiry, allowing positions to be held indefinitely, with funding rates designed to keep prices aligned with the spot market. Hayes expects that within the next year, traditional finance could roll out more liquid counterparts that compete head-on with onchain perpetuals platforms.