- Authors
What is Hyperliquid?
Hyperliquid is a fully onchain order book exchange.
Unlike traditional DEXs that use AMM, Hyperliquid uses an Order Book system like centralized exchanges, while all trades are transparently recorded on the blockchain.
What Makes It Special?
1. Complete Transparency
Every order, trade execution, cancellation, and liquidation is recorded on the blockchain:
- Who placed what order at what price
- When it was executed
- The order in which they were matched
You can track all trades on Hyperliquid Explorer like Etherscan. There are no hidden order books or off-chain matching.
2. One-Block Finality
On Ethereum, transactions require 2 epochs (64 blocks) to be fully confirmed, taking about 13-15 minutes. Exchanges typically wait 12-50 blocks for safety.
On Hyperliquid, transactions are finalized the moment they're included in a block. Once confirmed, trades cannot be reversed (no rollbacks), and there's no need to wait for additional confirmations. It's as instant as trading on a centralized exchange.
3. CEX-Level Performance
Hyperliquid can process 200,000 orders per second. This is comparable to centralized exchanges like Binance or Coinbase.
Traditional DEXs suffered from slow execution and high gas fees due to blockchain speed constraints, but Hyperliquid provides fast execution and low latency through the HyperBFT consensus algorithm while maintaining complete decentralization.
HyperCore and HyperEVM
Hyperliquid consists of two core layers.
HyperCore: The Trading Engine
HyperCore is Hyperliquid's trading engine. This is where actual trading happens.
Perpetual Futures Trading
Trade perpetual futures with up to 50x leverage. All positions are collateralized in USDC, using a non-custodial approach that maintains complete control over your assets. The exchange doesn't hold your assets; you manage them directly in your wallet.
Spot Trading
Spot trading is also available through the onchain order book. Orders are matched by price-time priority. The best-priced order executes first, and among orders at the same price, the one submitted first takes priority.
Staking
Stake the native HYPE token to contribute to network security.
HyperEVM
HyperEVM is Hyperliquid's smart contract layer. It uses the Ethereum Cancun version, so you can use familiar development tools like Solidity, Hardhat, and MetaMask. Gas fees are paid in HYPE tokens.
Integration with HyperCore
HyperEVM's most powerful feature is its direct connection to HyperCore.
Precompiles - Reading Order Book Data
Smart contracts can call special system addresses (precompiles) to directly read real-time data from HyperCore. You can instantly fetch order book prices, positions, balances, and more.
CoreWriter - Sending Orders to the Order Book
Smart contracts can place trade orders directly on the HyperCore order book. For example, a lending protocol can automatically liquidate positions on the market. It's as simple to use as Solidity's built-in functions.
Dual Block System
HyperEVM uses two types of blocks:
- Small blocks (2M gas, every 1 second): For regular transactions
- Big blocks (30M gas, every 1 minute): For complex operations like contract deployment
Bridgeless Token Transfers
Transfer tokens between HyperCore and HyperEVM without bridges. Send to a system address via ERC-20 transfer, and it's automatically deposited on the other side.
Permissionless Token Listing
Deploy ERC-20 tokens on HyperEVM and immediately list them on HyperCore's spot order book. No centralized exchange approval or listing fees required.