Hyperliquid’s native stablecoin, USDH, launched on September 23 with $2.2 million in early trading volume.
The launch follows Native Markets’ victory in a competitive governance vote that saw the startup defeat established players, including Paxos and Ethena Labs, for the right to issue USDH on the decentralized exchange.
Trading commenced with a USDH/USDC spot pair on HyperCore, while Native Markets reported over $15 million in pre-minted tokens prepared for initial distribution.
The stablecoin maintained its $1.00 peg during early trading sessions, fluctuating only to $1.001 as market participants tested the new asset’s liquidity and stability mechanisms.
Native Markets structured the launch as a gradual expansion, initially capping individual transactions at $800 per user while core functions undergo real-world testing.
“USDH is now live for all Hyperliquid users,” the company announced on social media, highlighting completion of both HIP-1 and ERC-20 token deployments.
Several integration phases will unfold over the coming months, beginning with HyperEVM integrations, followed by the expansion of USDH’s role as a spot quote asset.
Future developments include native minting directly on HyperCore and USDH-margined perpetual contracts through the proposed HIP-3 protocol upgrade.
The issuer structured USDH reserves using cash and short-term U.S. Treasury holdings managed off-chain by BlackRock, while on-chain tokenized assets operate through Superstate and Stripe’s Bridge infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Native Markets is also committed to directing 50% of its reserve yield toward Hyperliquid’s Assistance Fund, with the remaining portions allocated for USDH ecosystem development.
This revenue-sharing model emerged from the company’s competitive proposal that secured validator approval against better-known rivals during September’s governance process.
Hyperliquid currently hosts over $5.5 billion in Circle’s USDC, representing approximately 8% of the token’s total supply and generating an estimated $220 million annually in treasury yield revenue for Circle.
The USDH launch contributes to a broader shift within defi, as trading platforms seek to reduce their dependence on external stablecoin issuers and capture reserve yield revenue internally.
Tether’s USDT currently dominates the market, with $173.05 billion in circulation, processing over $24.6 billion daily on TRON alone through approximately 2.4 million transactions, according to Coingecko’s data.
