Hyperliquid strengthened its position in the cryptocurrency derivatives market during the third quarter, with Open Interest reaching a record $18.1 billion as traders increasingly used the decentralized exchange alongside established centralized platforms.

According to its Q3 report released Thursday, the exchange's share of combined Open Interest across eight leading centralized exchanges and Hyperliquid climbed to 11.7% by the end of September, up from 9.6% in June. The quarter also produced $730.6 billion in matched trading volume, while average daily traders rose 20% to a record 65,161.

The expansion was driven primarily by renewed activity in Hyperliquid's native cryptocurrency derivatives markets, even as its HIP-3 platform continued attracting demand for perpetual futures linked to traditional financial assets.

Open Interest Surges 80% as Hyperliquid Gains Market Share

Hyperliquid recorded substantial growth in derivatives activity during the quarter, strengthening its position against some of the cryptocurrency industry's largest centralized exchanges.

Open Interest — the total value of outstanding derivatives contracts on a venue — is widely followed as a gauge of how much capital traders keep deployed in leveraged markets. The platform's Open Interest reached an all-time high of $18.1 billion on September 22, reflecting increased trader participation and larger outstanding derivatives positions. By September 30, Open Interest stood at $16.7 billion, a 79.9% increase from $9.31 billion at the end of June. Average Open Interest also climbed 46.4% quarter over quarter to $12.7 billion.

That growth allowed Hyperliquid to capture a larger share of outstanding derivatives positions across major trading venues. Its market share rose from 9.6% at the end of June to 11.7% at the end of September, and the exchange surpassed Kraken and Bybit in Open Interest on August 12 before moving ahead of OKX on September 17. The gains illustrate how decentralized venues are claiming a growing role in a derivatives market where centralized platforms still hold the largest outstanding positions.

Despite these gains, the platform remains smaller than the largest centralized derivatives exchanges. At the end of September, Hyperliquid's Open Interest represented approximately 93% of Bitget's and 27% of Binance's.

A significant development during the quarter was the shift in trading activity from HIP-3 markets toward Hyperliquid's native cryptocurrency derivatives. According to the report, native trading volume rose 72% from its July low, helping drive the platform's record Open Interest.

HIP-3 — the framework through which Hyperliquid hosts perpetual markets tied to assets such as equities and commodities — nonetheless generated $262 billion in perpetual futures trading volume during Q3, a 23% increase from the previous quarter. The segment accounted for 35.9% of Hyperliquid's total matched volume during the period, although its monthly share of perpetual futures activity declined from 51.1% in July to 24.5% in September.

Within HIP-3, equity-linked perpetual futures generated $153.8 billion in trading volume during the third quarter, a 160.8% increase from Q2. Commodities trading volume declined 47.7% quarter over quarter to $45.6 billion. Together, the native-market recovery and HIP-3's shifting monthly share give readers a concrete set of figures to track when Hyperliquid publishes its Q4 report.

HYPE Faces Resistance Near $75

Despite Hyperliquid's strong quarterly performance, its native token remains under pressure — a reminder that platform usage metrics and token valuations do not necessarily move in tandem. HYPE was trading up roughly 1% around $72.19 at the time of writing, maintaining a bearish near-term structure on the daily chart as it sits below several important technical indicators.

The token trades below its 20-day, 50-day, and 100-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs) — trend-following averages that weight recent prices more heavily — which are clustered between approximately $77.44 and $80.26 and represent potential resistance levels that could limit recovery attempts. HYPE also remains below a descending resistance trendline, with the immediate breakout reference positioned near $75.12, while the nearby horizontal resistance at $75.69 creates another obstacle for buyers. A sustained recovery above these levels would indicate that short-term selling pressure is beginning to ease.

Momentum indicators continue to reflect weakness. The daily Relative Strength Index (RSI), a momentum gauge scaled from 0 to 100, stands near 35, indicating that bearish momentum remains dominant, while the Stochastic Oscillator has fallen to approximately 9, placing the token in deeply oversold territory — a condition that can persist as long as a downtrend remains in force.

On the downside, HYPE's immediate support stands at $67.63, a horizontal level where buyers could attempt to stabilize the token following its recent decline. A successful defense of $67.63 could support a temporary recovery toward the descending resistance trendline, while a decisive breakdown below this level would expose the token to further downside risk. The next significant support stands at $61.16, followed by another horizontal level near $51.57. If selling pressure intensifies, the broader structural support around $33.20 could become relevant, although reaching that level would require a substantially deeper correction.

On the upside, HYPE must first reclaim the $75.12 descending trendline and the nearby $75.69 horizontal resistance. A sustained breakout above these barriers could put the EMA cluster between $77.44 and $80.26 back in focus for buyers. Further resistance stands at $85.04, followed by $97.84, though reaching those higher levels would require stronger buying momentum and an improvement in broader cryptocurrency market sentiment.

Source: CoinJournal