On September 24, the crypto derivatives exchange Hyperliquid officially launched its next-generation native stablecoin USDH, with its USDC/USDC trading pair reaching over $2.2 million in trading volume on the first day. As the first USD-pegged token selected through a validator governance mechanism, the launch of USDH quickly ignited community discussions. It not only marks a key step for the Hyperliquid ecosystem, but also hints at the arrival of a new disruptor in the stablecoin market.
I. USDH’s Positioning: Breaking Free from External Stablecoin Dependence
Amid the DeFi boom, trading platforms are building their own stablecoins to reduce reliance on external providers like USDC or USDT. USDH is a typical example of this trend, with its design focusing on stability and ecosystem integration.
● Diversified Reserve Base
USDH is fully backed by regulated assets such as cash and US Treasury bonds, combining off-chain management with on-chain transparency mechanisms. Leveraging Stripe’s Bridge platform, users can view reserve details in real time, simplifying audits and enhancing trust.
● Decentralized Governance Innovation
Unlike traditional models, the issuance rights of USDH are determined by votes from Hyperliquid validators. This community-driven approach is more in line with the Web3 spirit and attracts deep participation from professional users in management.
● Ecosystem Closed-Loop Services
USDH is designed on Hyperliquid’s Ethereum-compatible layer HyperEVM, serving not only as a trading pair denomination but also as collateral across the network. The platform plans to use reserve income to buy back the native token HYPE, optimizing costs and strengthening the economic cycle.
II. The Competition and Controversy Behind the Bidding
Before USDH’s launch, Hyperliquid opened a public bidding process in early September, attracting giants such as Paxos, Frax, Agora, and Curve. Ultimately, the emerging team Native Markets won with an innovative proposal, receiving support from more than two-thirds of validators. Native Markets’ core advantage lies in the team’s commitment: 50% of reserve income will be used for HYPE buybacks, with the rest allocated to ecosystem grants. Their technical solution is closely tied to HyperEVM, completing code review and deployment in just one week. Led by industry veterans Max Fiege and Anish Agnihotri, Native Markets is clearly deeply integrated with the platform.
However, the process was not entirely smooth. Haseeb Qureshi, partner at Dragonfly Capital, publicly questioned whether there was favoritism in the bidding, and unsuccessful institutions complained that established proposals were not fairly evaluated. Nevertheless, the results of the community vote highlight the power of democratic governance.
III. Market Debut and Potential Impact
On its first day, the USDH/USDC pair saw active trading, with volumes reaching $2.2 million to $2.3 million, far exceeding expectations. This reflects that while investors remain cautious, recognition of its real-world reserves and governance model is beginning to emerge. The total stablecoin market cap has soared to nearly $295 billions, and although USDH is small, it targets the gap in transparency. Unlike the centralized models of USDT/USDC, its revenue distribution is governed by the platform, making it more attractive to DeFi users. In the long run, it may challenge DAI or Frax’s share in the decentralized sector. For a direct comparison, let’s look at the daily trading volume data of major perpetual exchanges (September 24):
Exchange | Daily Trading Volume (hundred millions USD) | Source |
Hyperliquid | 10.09 | DeFiLlama |
Aster | 25.77 | DeFiLlama |
This table shows that Aster has temporarily surpassed Hyperliquid, highlighting the fierce market competition. The injection of USDH may help Hyperliquid catch up, but more ecosystem tools need to be implemented.
IV. The Road Ahead for Hyperliquid: Opportunities and Challenges
In the future, Hyperliquid will leverage USDH to improve leveraged trading, cross-chain bridges, and the HYPE incentive system, promoting an ecosystem closed loop. However, user adoption and promotion remain pain points. Compared to Aster’s daily trading volume of over $25 billions, Hyperliquid’s $10 billions scale still lags behind and needs to accelerate innovation. Governance fairness also needs optimization. The bidding controversy reminds the platform to focus more on code acceptance and participation from smaller teams to maintain community confidence. Overall, USDH is not only a technical experiment but also a signal of Hyperliquid’s transformation into a mature DeFi platform, and it is worth continuous observation.
Join our community to discuss and grow stronger together!
