Trade.xyz上线220天后，Hyperliquid正成为“新纳斯达克”

Original: Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)

Author: Wenser (@wenser 2010)

Years ago, when CZ was asked by the media to compare Binance with other exchanges, he boldly declared, "Binance's only true competitor is Nasdaq."

Today, the entity closer to achieving that goal is Hyperliquid, where trading volumes for US stocks, gold, silver, and commodities continue to surge.

With its token HYPE surging over 100% (Recommended reading: "Why is HYPE still surging? Has it peaked?"), the crypto market, and even traditional finance, are reassessing the positioning and valuation of this "former Perp DEX."

After the pre-market Cerebras (CBRS) battle, Hyperliquid has begun playing the role of a "US stock price discovery machine" and is transforming into a new Nasdaq.

Answering 2026: Describe Hyperliquid in one sentence?

Last May, Trade.xyz founder Shoku (@sershokunin) mentioned in a tweet: "It's very interesting that after all this time, people still only view/evaluate Hyperliquid as an on-chain contract exchange. But if you take some time to dig deeper, you'll realize the team's true ambition goes far beyond this. The next product from Units will make everyone see just how big this opportunity is."

A year later, people finally recognized the foresight of that tweet, and this heavyweight product has become what is now known as the "Nasdaq prototype on-chain" — Trade.xyz.

Last October, HIP-3 officially opened, and the largest third-party perpetual market application built on HIP-3, Trade.xyz, went live shortly after. In less than half a year, Trade.xyz achieved the milestone of "cumulative trading volume exceeding $110 billion". By leveraging the trading liquidity of on-chain US stocks, pre-market US stocks, and commodities introduced via HIP-3 and Trade.xyz, Hyperliquid has rapidly become the current "New King of RWA Trading."

On May 18th, Hyperliquid officially released data showing that the platform's open interest for RWA trading has risen to $2.6 billion, a new all-time high, doubling from two months ago. Latest data shows that total trading volume for tokenized stocks hit a record high of $3.57 billion, with Hyperliquid being a standout in this sector.

On today's Hyperliquid, crypto assets are no longer the "main theme"; tokenized stocks and commodities are increasingly becoming the focus of platform liquidity, including assets like the Nasdaq index, S&P 500, crude oil, gold, and silver.

A recent weekly report from asset management firm Arca pointed out that among the top 30 markets on Hyperliquid, only 7 are cryptocurrency trading pairs, with the vast majority being commodity and stock trading pairs from Trade.xyz.

When CME is closed for the weekend, traders are speculating on crude oil movements on Hyperliquid; before the Cerebras IPO, US stock traders and investment bank fund managers used Hyperliquid's pre-market prices for more accurate stock price references; shortly after SpaceX pre-market stocks went live, the entire market subsequently pushed its market cap above $2 trillion.

HIP-3 Trading Volume Distribution: Trade.xyz accounts for nearly 90%

In terms of trading scale, the on-chain US stock contracts dominated by Trade.xyz are no longer "play money" but rather a financial market infrastructure with substantive price discovery functions. In the past, this authority was held only by a few major investment banks, brokerages, market makers, and exchanges in the capital markets.

Compared to traditional pre-market markets, the close alignment of Trade.xyz and Hyperliquid with final real prices forces an acknowledgment: For the first time in history, the "right to price discovery" for US stocks has shifted from traditional trading hours to 24/7 on-chain operation.

How Hyperliquid Prices Stocks: A Never-Ending Game of Capital

The ability to achieve such accurate pricing stems not only from the advantage of uninterrupted trading hours but also from multiple factors like product structure, global capital, and whale leverage.

First, the trading time advantage. Limited by historical development, traditional financial markets have a fundamental flaw: Taking US stocks as an example, the official trading session on Nasdaq is only from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM ET, yet major events impacting global financial markets increasingly occur "outside stock trading hours." This trend has become more pronounced in recent months – the US-Iran conflict, tariff negotiations, policy pushes – unexpected events often erupt after Friday's close, precisely when traditional markets are shut. Traders, needing to hedge risks the most but having nowhere to go, flock to Hyperliquid. Today, Bloomberg cites Hyperliquid's crude oil contract quotes as "the most valuable reference price," indicating that the authority of on-chain prices is gaining recognition from mainstream media.

Second, the product structure advantage. Unlike stock pre-market trading platforms like PreStocks that use SPV shareholding structures, Trade.xyz's pre-market contracts are pure perpetual synthetic assets – they involve no real equity, but are cash-settled derivatives. Legally, this perpetual asset differs entirely from traditional tokenized equity, thus offering greater flexibility in regulatory compliance. The earlier authorization by S&P Dow Jones Indices for using the S&P 500 index in Hyperliquid perpetual contract trading is a prime example.

Furthermore, the global capital flow advantage. After US stock market hours, global liquidity, including Asian capital, needs channels. The US stock market, with its largest capacity, highest efficiency, and most participants, is the "best target," and Hyperliquid's RWA trading platform provides them with a sufficiently vast stage.

Macroeconomic and stock analyst Citrini affirms Trade.xyz's price discovery

Finally, the leveraged whale pricing advantage. Compared to exchanges or other pre-market trading platforms with strict KYC, Hyperliquid is undoubtedly more friendly for whales needing high leverage. The rapid on-chain games and 3x-50x leverage greatly enhance convenience for whales.

A Two-Way Convergence of Crypto and Traditional Finance

Have you noticed that the US stock market, once strictly governed by "business performance and earnings reports," is increasingly exhibiting "crypto market traits"? It is heavily influenced by macroeconomic data, swayed by a single Trump tweet, driven by institutional influencer calls, amplified by narrative logic, pushed to highs by retail FOMO – and then suddenly slammed to the floor by breaking news.

On the other hand, after the approval of crypto ETFs, mainstream coins have been somewhat "co-opted" by traditional finance: volatility has decreased, trapped in a sideways consolidation lacking narrative.

This style shift between the two asset classes has opened up genuine upside potential for Hyperliquid: As US stock assets and crypto assets gradually converge, using on-chain tools to facilitate US stock price discovery becomes increasingly feasible, and active adaptation to a new market structure is already happening quietly. In the near future, a transmission chain of "on-chain pricing precedes - pre-market market follows - regular market opens confirms" will reshape financial markets. Hyperliquid, this crypto world infrastructure, is transforming in a new way into a "globalized Nasdaq."

Institutions that understand this are starting to stake their claims in the Hyperliquid ecosystem.

On May 19th, Bitwise announced it would use 10% of the management fee income from its BHYP Hyperliquid ETF to hold the native Hyperliquid token HYPE on its corporate balance sheet, and related HYPE holdings would also be staked. On May 20th, renowned investment bank Goldman Sachs sold $152 million worth of XRP, $500 million worth of ETH, and $450 million worth of BTC, while simultaneously purchasing HYPE tokens.

Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan stated publicly that HYPE's value is still being underestimated by the market. Hyperliquid's true potential lies in becoming a global trading super-app covering stocks, Pre-IPO assets, commodities, prediction markets, and crypto assets.

Furthermore, according to recently disclosed 13F filings, fund institutions including Paradigm, Pentera, Vanguard, Citadel, and Galaxy are rushing to add positions in PURR, the treasury company of the HYPE DAT, to their investment asset lists.

A Nasdaq That Never Sleeps, Starting On-Chain

CZ previously said that the ultimate competitor for the crypto market should be traditional stock exchanges like Nasdaq. This statement is now being reinterpreted by Hyperliquid.

The market has realized that this competition is not about "who can create a larger crypto exchange," but about the reconstruction of global financial infrastructure. Hyperliquid is not just partially moving Wall Street's system on-chain; it is attempting to redefine the "market" itself.

US stock trading is limited by fixed time zones, private companies lack public pricing, and global users find it difficult to participate equally in primary and secondary markets. These long-accepted financial boundaries are being breached, little by little, by the on-chain trading system.

The concept of "asset tokenization" is too outdated; this has become an experiment in paradigm shift concerning the "right to price discovery."

On Hyperliquid, global users are, for the first time, approaching a true 24/7, borderless market prototype where all asset classes can flow freely.

Traditional platforms, including Nasdaq, are also being forced to rethink the boundaries of future financial markets.