In a significant move within the cryptocurrency investment landscape, 21Shares, a Swiss asset manager, has launched the Hyperliquid ETP on the SIX Swiss Exchange. This launch comes amid rising monthly trading volumes in decentralized finance (DeFi) products.
New Investment Vehicle on the Market
- 21Shares lists the first hyperliquid ETP on SIX, providing regulated exposure to the HYPE token.
- Hyperliquid recorded a staggering $319 billion in monthly transactions, securing 35% of blockchain revenues in July.
- Market concerns persist, yet analysts anticipate long-term growth in demand for DeFi derivatives.
21Shares has officially listed the Hyperliquid ETP, allowing both institutional and retail investors to gain exposure to the native token HYPE with no need for on-chain wallets or custodians. This marks the first quality institutional investment vehicle that offers direct access to the Hyperliquid protocol.
The launch follows a recent peak for HYPE, which reached an all-time high of $50.99, highlighting Hyperliquid’s increasing influence in the DeFi derivatives sector. Mandy Chiu, Head of Financial Product Development at 21Shares, praised Hyperliquid’s trajectory, stating that its growth has been “extraordinary” and its underlying economy one of the most compelling observed in the space.
The Rapid Ascendancy of Hyperliquid in DeFi
Founded in 2018, 21Shares has a reputation for introducing regulated digital asset products. The company’s portfolio includes the first physically-backed crypto ETPs, as well as Bitcoin and Ether spot ETFs available in the United States.
Hyperliquid launched in late 2022 as a Layer 1 blockchain with a decentralized exchange specializing in perpetual contracts. Unlike many DeFi platforms that rely on automated market makers, Hyperliquid employs a traditional on-chain order book to seamlessly match buy and sell orders. Transactions are settled in under a second without dependence on oracles or off-chain infrastructure.
The exchange’s fee structure directs transaction costs toward daily buybacks of the HYPE token, fortifying demand for the asset. This model has been instrumental in driving explosive growth in trading volume, revenues, and user adoption.
In July, Hyperliquid managed $319 billion in transactions—the highest monthly volume ever recorded for a DeFi perpetuals platform. This activity accounted for nearly $487 billion in total decentralized perpetual transaction volume, according to DefiLlama, and secured 35% of all blockchain revenues for that month, surpassing competitors on Solana, Ethereum, and BNB Chain.
As the seventh-largest derivatives exchange globally in terms of daily trading activity, Hyperliquid boasted over 600,000 registered users as of July. Despite a temporary disruption caused by a 37-minute outage on July 29, the protocol swiftly reimbursed $2 million in losses, earning support from its community for its prompt response.
Balancing Growth and Market Concerns
Despite its rapid progress, questions about market integrity linger. Recent reports suggested that four significant traders manipulated the price of the XPL token of Plasma, briefly inflating its value by 200% before smaller participants faced substantial losses, generating $48 million in profits for those involved.
Nevertheless, optimism surrounding Hyperliquid’s long-term trajectory remains robust. At the WebX 2025 conference in Tokyo, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes projected that the HYPE token could increase in value by 126 times over the next three years, citing the strong revenue from trading fees and broader stablecoin adoption.
As institutional-quality products like 21Shares’ Hyperliquid ETP emerge, access to the evolving DeFi infrastructure continues to expand. While governance and market risks persist, Hyperliquid’s rapid rise underscores the growing appetite for decentralized derivatives and financial instruments designed to track their performance.
