Author: Bondin, Unlocks Insights; Translation: Jinse Finance Xiaozou
On: Recently, Hyperliquid held its TGE and distributed airdrops to the community, with its token HYPE rising from $2 to a peak of $9.8, with an FDV of nearly $10 billion. Currently, HYPE is fluctuating around $8.3. This article reviews the TGE event of Hyperliquid and the current state of the decentralized perpetual contract DEX landscape.
The cryptocurrency market is beginning to show signs of bullish trends, with Meme and AI currently attracting most of the attention. However, Hyperliquid's recent token generation event (TGE) has turned the focus back to decentralized finance (DeFi). The project directly airdropped more than one-third of its total token supply to the community, with no allocation to exchanges or private investors, and the token has maintained a steady price increase since its release.
This success increases the likelihood of the market refocusing on DeFi, especially with decentralized perpetual protocols in the same space as Hyperliquid. Recent data from DefiLlama supports this potential trend, showing a significant increase in the total locked value (TVL) of derivative protocols. This growth highlights the increasing relevance of these platforms in the DeFi ecosystem.
In this article, let's explore:
Hyperliquid: Key features, tokenomics, and growth potential.
Perpetual protocols: A close examination of noteworthy protocols in the perpetual space, including dYdX (high market cap), GMX (mid market cap), and HMX (low market cap), selected based on their key metrics in their respective categories.
1. Introduction to Hyperliquid
Hyperliquid is a high-performance Layer 1 blockchain designed for a fully on-chain open financial system. Its infrastructure combines the speed of centralized exchanges with the transparency and trustlessness of DeFi, providing fast, transparent, and scalable trading, with block delays of less than one second and a throughput of up to 100,000 orders per second.
(1) Tokenomics
Hyperliquid's tokenomics emphasizes community-driven growth. Its recent token generation event (TGE) introduced the native token HYPE, with more than one-third of the total supply airdropped directly to the community. Notably, there is no token allocation aimed at private investors or exchanges, ensuring the project's value is rooted in community participation.
The main highlights of its tokenomics are as follows:
Total supply: 1,000,000,000 HYPE tokens.
Allocation details:
Future emissions and community rewards: 38.888%
Genesis allocation: 31.0%
Core contributors: 23.8%
Hyper Foundation budget: 6.0%
Community grants: 0.3%
HIP-2 allocation: 0.012%
Standard allocation details for tokenomics:
Community: 76.2%
Founders/Team: 23.8%
(2) Supply plan
Hyperliquid's supply plan supports high initial circulating supply for instant liquidity while ensuring controlled token emissions over time:
Community allocation: Over 30% of the total supply will enter circulation through airdrops at the time of token release. The remaining tokens will be gradually emitted over time. Some tokens are allocated to the foundation budget and community grants to support ecosystem development at launch.
Team allocation: Locked for one year, then gradually unlocked monthly over two years, completing all distributions by 2027-2028. The unlock time on the schedule is 2 years.
High initial circulating supply has facilitated liquidity and active market participation from day one, distinguishing it from the common trend of low circulating/high FDV tokens. The year following the genesis, when team tokens begin to unlock, will be a key event to observe its potential impact on the market.
(3) Bullish catalysts
High initial circulating supply: At the time of token issuance, over 30% of the total supply enters circulation—and none are allocated to venture capital or private investors—differentiating Hyperliquid from the trend of low circulating, venture-backed tokens. With no private entities holding pre-allocated tokens, anyone interested in acquiring HYPE beyond the airdrop must purchase directly from the market. This move has received strong support from the community, sparking bullish sentiment and further boosting market confidence.
Market dominance: Hyperliquid has shown remarkable growth in user stickiness and trading volume. Total users exceed 190,000, with total trading volume surpassing $300 billion. Data from Dune Analytics indicates that Hyperliquid currently dominates the perpetual protocol market, leading with over 35% of trading volume among all perpetual protocols.
Ecosystem development: HyperEVM introduces Ethereum compatibility, attracting over 30 projects, including dApps and GambleFi applications. Collaborations with Ethena and integrations with stablecoins like USDe further enhance utility, liquidity, and developer engagement.
These catalysts highlight Hyperliquid's growth potential and its leading position in decentralized perpetual trading.
2. Exploring the current state of the perpetual protocol space
In addition to Hyperliquid, several protocols are actively shaping the perpetual protocol space, driving their development through adoption and innovation. In this section, we will examine the main players across different market caps:
dYdX (high market cap): An OG leader with a strong user base, focused on application chain.
GMX (mid market cap): A leader on Arbitrum known for its unique liquidity model and stable growth.
HMX (low market cap): A protocol offering high leverage trading with impressive performance valuation metrics.
By analyzing their tokenomics and catalysts, we form a comprehensive perspective on the decentralized perpetual protocol space.
(1) dYdX: The OG market leader with an application chain vision.
Introduction to dYdX:
dYdX has become a leading decentralized perpetual exchange, featuring advanced functionality and a professional trading experience. The protocol was initially launched on Ethereum and evolved to StarkWare (v3) in 2021 to overcome scaling issues caused by high gas fees. To fully realize decentralization, dYdX launched its v4 iteration on an independent dYdX chain built using Cosmos SDK, ensuring that all components of the protocol are fully decentralized.
Tokenomics:
The DYDX token was released on August 3, 2021, and its tokenomics evolve through team decisions and community governance. Notably, there is a 1-year re-locking mechanism for investor and team tokens, which significantly boosts market confidence and drives up token prices.
Standard allocation:
Reserve: 31.3%
Private investors: 27.7%
Founders/Team: 22.3%
Community: 18.7%
Supply plan:
Team and investor tokens started unlocking this year, revealing a significant cliff, followed by monthly unlocking until completion in June 2026.
About 20% of the total supply remains unallocated, leaving room for future ecosystem incentives.
Current token emissions are stagnant at approximately 80 million DYDX per month (less than 1% of the total supply), ensuring controllable supply growth.
Bullish catalysts:
Controllable emissions: A stable monthly emission rate of approximately 1.4% of the circulating supply ensures limited dilution, providing confidence to long-term holders.
Flexible allocation: Over 20% of unallocated tokens provide opportunities for future ecosystem incentives, supporting potential growth and adoption.
dYdX Unlimited: The launch of dYdX Unlimited allows users to trade on any market, expanding its appeal and creating more trading opportunities within the ecosystem.
(2) GMX: The mid market cap leader on Arbitrum.
Introduction to GMX:
GMX is a decentralized exchange (DEX) operating on Arbitrum and Avalanche, offering spot and perpetual futures trading with leverage of up to 100x. Its standout feature is the GLP multi-asset liquidity pool, which supports fees for market making, swap trading, and leveraged trading, providing a sustainable and scalable liquidity model.
Tokenomics:
Standard allocation:
Founders/Team: 1.9%
Reserve: 37.7%
Community: 60.4%
Supply plan:
GMX was launched in July 2021, evolving from XVIX and Gambit tokens. Most of its token supply has been unlocked, with remaining emissions primarily used for esGMX rewards under the community pool to incentivize protocol usage.
Bullish catalysts:
Low supply emissions: GMX's annual emission rate is only 1.5%, one of the most conservative supply plans in the perpetual protocol space, minimizing inflation and preserving token value.
Growth of key metrics: GMX has recently shown strong growth trends, including a recovery in TVL, a significant increase in open interest over the past three months, and a 130% increase in 30-day earnings driven by increased trading activity and strong fee generation.
(3) HMX: A low market cap project with strong indicators.
Introduction to HMX:
HMX is a decentralized perpetual contract trading platform running on Arbitrum, providing users with the ability to trade cryptocurrencies and commodities with high leverage. It supports multi-asset collateral and full-margin trading, enhancing capital efficiency and user flexibility.
Tokenomics:
Standard allocation:
Community: 40%
Reserve: 30.6%
Founders/Team: 15%
Public investors: 8%
Private investors: 6.4%
Supply plan:
HMX launched its token generation event (TGE) through public sale in August 2023.
Team and private investors: After a 6-month cliff period, there is a 42-month team unlock period and a 12-month investor unlock period.
Community allocation: Distributed to platform rewards according to a detailed timetable.
Reserved allocation: For ecosystem growth plans, such as marketing, partnerships, and exchange listings. These tokens will not directly enter circulation after unlocking and will only be used as needed.
Bullish catalysts:
Strong metrics in the Arbitrum ecosystem:
Growth potential: HMX's market cap/TVL ratio is half that of GMX, with a P/E ratio of 0.39 (annual fees: $14 million), and a market cap of only around $5.5 million, whereas GMX's P/E ratio is 3.4 (annual fees: $90 million), with a market cap exceeding $300 million. Its fundamentals are strong, and its valuation is far below GMX and dYdX ($1.2 billion), indicating substantial growth potential.
High fees and revenues: HMX ranks second in fees and revenue dimensions, showing strong user stickiness and platform efficiency despite a lower TVL.
New roadmap:
HMX's recently announced roadmap introduces significant updates to enhance its ecosystem and competitiveness:
CLOB model: Set to launch in Q1 2025, this model will bring deeper liquidity, better price discovery, and advanced trading features.
Improved tokenomics: Including token burning, governance-driven inflation, and airdrop activities to enhance demand and user participation.
Rebranding: The new brand will reflect HMX's status as an innovator in the perpetual DEX space and its transformative power.
3. Conclusion
Led by innovative platforms like Hyperliquid, dYdX, GMX, and HMX, the perpetual protocol space is gaining momentum in the DeFi sector, with all platforms driving growth through their unique features and strategies. As the space continues to evolve, it will play a key role in decentralized trading.
