Hyperliquid’s RWA perps boom is eating into the revenue that backs HYPE

Hyperliquid has experienced a surge in trading activity, with open interest reaching $11 billion and monthly perpetual futures volume hitting $178 billion in July 2026. Despite this growth, the platform's gross protocol revenue has declined for four consecutive quarters, falling from $357 million in Q3 2025 to $202 million in Q2 2026. This revenue compression is largely driven by the HIP-3 proposal, which allows third-party builders to deploy their own markets and retain up to 50% of trading fees. A significant portion of this volume is now derived from real-world asset (RWA) perps, including tokenized stocks, commodities, and pre-IPO shares, which recently surpassed bitcoin in open interest. Trade.xyz currently dominates this RWA segment, accounting for over 90% of HIP-3 open interest, creating a concentration risk that recently manifested in liquidations following a price drop in a tokenized SK Hynix contract. While the platform remains a dominant force in crypto application revenue, the shift toward builder-led markets and increased regulatory scrutiny from bodies like the MAS and CFTC present ongoing challenges. The platform's native token, HYPE, faces additional pressure from significant supply unlocks and declining buyback activity linked to the platform's shrinking net earnings.