Hyperliquid Launches HyperEVM to Enable General-Purpose Programmability

Hyperliquid has officially launched HyperEVM, a new Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) execution environment designed to bring general-purpose programmability to its Layer 1 blockchain.

The Hyper Foundation, which oversees the project, announced that the release is a major step toward expanding Hyperliquid’s capabilities.

These include allowing developers to deploy Ethereum-compatible smart contracts while benefiting from the network’s high-performance financial infrastructure.

HyperEVM Mainnet Launch Integrates with Hyperliquid Layer 1

The initial mainnet release of HyperEVM integrates directly with Hyperliquid’s Layer 1 execution system, inheriting security from HyperBFT consensus.

According to the Hyper Foundation, this upgrade enhances smart contract functionality, creating a more robust financial ecosystem that aligns with Hyperliquid’s goal of becoming a one-stop platform for decentralized finance (DeFi).

With the rollout, spot transfers are now available between Hyperliquid’s native HYPE token and HyperEVM HYPE, which serves as the native gas token in the new execution environment.

However, the foundation acknowledged that tooling and analytics for HyperEVM are still in development, and refinements will continue post-launch.

To assist users and developers, the team has implemented real-time streaming of raw HyperEVM block data to S3, eliminating the need for node operation to index transactions.

To further secure the system, the Hyper Foundation has introduced a bug bounty program, rewarding users who identify critical vulnerabilities in the mainnet that could disrupt operations or cause logical errors in nodes and API servers.

Additionally, the foundation is still gathering feedback on native ERC-20 transfers and precompiles, which will be integrated in future network upgrades.

Hyperliquid, known for its decentralized perpetual trading platform, has been gaining traction.

In January 2025, its perpetual swap trading volume reached $197.88 billion, significantly outpacing competitors like Jupiter ($36.28 billion) and SynFutures ($16.21 billion).

Following the HyperEVM launch, HYPE’s price saw a modest 0.8% increase to $26.1, with a market capitalization of $8.8 billion, according to The Block’s price data.

Hyperliquid Achieves $2.1B TVL in 2024

Last month, Hyperliquid revealed its key milestones in 2024 , including reaching $15 billion in daily trading volume and expanding its user base ninefold to 300,000 users.

The project said it experienced significant growth in 2024, with its 24-hour all-time high (ATH) trading volume climbing from $1 billion to $15 billion.

Open interest rose from $178 million to $4.3 billion, while total value locked (TVL) climbed from $56 million to $2.1 billion.

Additionally, the exchange’s user base expanded from 31,000 to 300,000, marking a ninefold rise.

Hyperliquid also supported 158 perpetual trading pairs and 128 native spot assets, generating over $3.5 million in daily revenue from trading fees and spot auctions.

These achievements were underpinned by the introduction of staking mechanisms and native token standards, including HIP-1 and HIP-2, which streamlined token usage across its platform.