$18B open interest milestone: Hyperliquid gains ground on centralised exchanges

• $18.1 billion marked a September record for Hyperliquid open interest. Its Q3 market share across eight exchanges rose to 11.7%.
• Despite $262 billion in Q3 perpetual futures volume, HIP-3's share of Hyperliquid trading activity dropped to 24.5% from 51.1%.
• A key descending trendline remains a resistance barrier for HYPE.

$18.1 billion was the record reached by Hyperliquid (HYPE) open interest in September. The decentralised exchange increased its share of combined open interest across eight leading exchanges to 11.7% in Q3, gaining ground on major centralised trading platforms.

11.7% Q3 open interest share marks Hyperliquid derivatives expansion

Traders rebuilding positions in Hyperliquid's native derivatives markets drove the September 22 peak, according to the Q3 report published on Thursday. This reversed the dominance of HIP-3 markets, which provide perpetual futures linked to traditional assets, including equities, indices and commodities.

By the end of September, open interest had reached $16.7 billion, a 79.9% rise from $9.31 billion at the end of June. Quarterly average open interest advanced 46.4% to $12.7 billion.

Describing the September peak as "carried by the core book," the report attributed it to the platform's native derivatives markets.

Across the eight largest centralised exchanges and Hyperliquid itself, the platform's share of open interest increased from 9.6% at the end of June to 11.7% at the end of September. Hyperliquid overtook Kraken and Bybit on August 12, then OKX on September 17. The report also noted that its open interest had surpassed HTX in May.

A sizeable gap nevertheless separates Hyperliquid from the largest centralised exchanges. Its quarter-end open interest was equivalent to 93% of Bitget's and 27% of Binance's.

72% native volume recovery supports open interest growth

As trading returned to Hyperliquid's native crypto markets during the quarter, the mix of its open interest shifted.

With perpetual futures volume of $262 billion, HIP-3 recorded 23% quarterly growth and contributed 35.9% of the platform's matched volume. Its share of Hyperliquid's perpetual trading activity nevertheless contracted to 24.5% in September from 51.1% in July.

A 72% rebound in native trading volume from its July low accounted for the reversal, the report said.

At $3.94 billion at the end of September, HIP-3 open interest was 27.4% above June's level. Faster growth in native positions, however, reduced its share of Hyperliquid's total open interest to 23.5% from roughly one-third.

Quarterly equity volume climbed 160.8% from Q2 to $153.8 billion, keeping equities the largest HIP-3 asset class. Commodity volume moved in the opposite direction, falling 47.7% to $45.6 billion.

Broader participation on the exchange accompanied the rise in open interest.

An average of 65,161 traders used Hyperliquid daily in Q3, up 20% on the previous quarter and setting a quarterly record for the third consecutive quarter. The number of new traders increased 14.5% to 362,611.

Despite a 9.3% quarterly increase to $730.6 billion, matched trading volume was still 30.5% below the corresponding period last year.

After two consecutive quarters of net inflows, the report recorded quarterly net bridge outflows of $953 million. It argued, however, that these withdrawals reflected profit-taking during the market rally rather than weaker trading activity.

$75.12 trendline barrier limits HYPE: Hyperliquid technical outlook

At $72.13 on the daily chart, HYPE retains a bearish bias below its 20-day, 50-day and 100-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs). These form an overhead resistance cluster between $77.44 and $80.26. Recovery attempts remain constrained by the descending resistance trendline, whose breakout reference stands at $75.12. Meanwhile, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) near 35 and a deeply oversold Stochastic near 9 indicate strong selling pressure that may be approaching exhaustion, rather than confirming a reversal.

The horizontal level at $67.63 provides immediate downside support. Further support lies at $61.16 and $51.57, with a more distant structural base around $33.20. Any recovery would first encounter the trendline resistance zone near $75.12 and the adjacent horizontal barrier at $75.69, then the long- and short-term EMA cluster. Higher up, stronger resistance stands at $85.04, followed by $97.84.

(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)