Hyperliquid, a decentralized perpetuals exchange built on its own HyperEVM chain, has become one of DeFi's top fee-generating protocols in early March 2026. In its latest weekly market brief, altFINS highlighted that Hyperliquid generated $14.0 million in fees over the past week, a 56% increase week-over-week, calling it exceptional for a derivatives platform and a confirmation that on-chain perps activity is picking up meaningfully.
HyperEVM Transaction Growth Hits 55%, Active Users Up 25%
The same report singled out the underlying chain: 55% transaction growth this week and a 25% uptick in active users, making it the fastest-growing chain by proportional activity, which correlates with HYPE's strong price momentum. Off-chain statistics reinforce the acceleration: HyperEVM has processed roughly 97.8 million total transactions with average daily volume near 434,000, while cumulative on-chain fees have surpassed $256.2 million since launch. Daily DEX volumes on HyperEVM peaked near $0.9 billion in late May 2025, with app fees topping $8 million in June and weekly active addresses recently pushing above 106,000 as TVL approached $1.9 billion.
HYPE Up 662% but Still at a Discount to CEX Peers
Usage surge directly feeds into HYPE's token economics. A recent daily market analysis from MEXC noted that Hyperliquid's platform generated $13 million in weekly fees with TVL exceeding $6.2 billion, signaling strong institutional demand, even as HYPE is up 662% since its November 2024 launch, currently trading 44% below its all-time high. On March 3, the token surged 17.1% to $31.86 as traders flocked to its 24/7 commodity derivatives during US-Iran tensions, with open interest hitting $1.23 billion and deflationary buybacks removing 17,146 tokens to offset an upcoming $316 million contributor unlock.
Critically, the market still appears to undervalue that growth relative to traditional exchanges. altFINS wrote: "With HYPE's price also rallying, the market is beginning to price in the fundamental activity, though fees-to-valuation remains compelling relative to CEX comps." Annualizing this week's $14 million in fees implies roughly $728 million in run-rate protocol revenue if activity holds, a level that would command mid-to-high single-digit forward multiples in listed exchange stocks. For traders, the setup resembles a late-stage SaaS rerating: either fees and user growth normalize back toward DeFi peers, or HYPE continues to climb until its market cap better reflects a derivatives venue capturing billions in on-chain flow.