Hyperliquid

Hyperliquid has quickly become one of the most dominant protocols in crypto. The project is the brainchild of Jeff Yan, a Harvard graduate who briefly worked at Hudson River Trading before he spun up his own market making operation for the crypto sector. In 2023, Yan shifted from trading digital assets in order to launch Hyperliquid, which describes both a popular decentralized exchange and the blockchain that underpins it. There is also a Hyperliquid token, which is in the top 10 of all cryptocurrencies.

Initially, Yan's project specialized in perpetual futures, a type of derivative that lets traders bet on the future price of assets without holding the assets themselves. While the protocol's volumes grew steadily, interest in Hyperliquid exploded in 2025. At various points, its annualized revenue has soared to around $1 billion—all while Hyperliquid Labs, the key developer behind the protocol, has employed only a handful of staffers. More recently, Hyperliquid has added support for other financial assets, including oil derivatives and prediction markets. The protocol isn't available to U.S. traders.