Hyperliquid founder Jeff Yan said he would likely look at options if he were building something other than infrastructure, pointing to demand he has heard from users who want to trade that product. Speaking on the Empire podcast at DAS 2026 Asia, Yan said his starting point would be to examine what has not yet been built and what still has real potential, with that decision depending in part on what other builders are already working on. He said perpetual futures already serve many users, but some traders still find that perps do not let them express every market view they want to take. Yan also described HIP-4 as an obvious route for building an options protocol because it can inherit spot markets, an order book and portfolio margin. On the market-making side, he said perpetuals could be used to hedge options delta. The harder part, in his view, is turning that missing piece into something with broad appeal. He added that he does not think options-like or convex payoff products in crypto have truly reached escape velocity, even though products in that category clearly have in traditional finance.
Hyperliquid founder Jeff Yan said he would probably study options if he were building something other than infrastructure, according to an interview on the Empire podcast at DAS 2026 Asia.
Asked what he would build as a builder if infrastructure was no longer an option, Yan said he would look at what still has not been built and what has genuine potential. He said that depends on what other builders are doing.
Yan points to options demand
Yan said that, at least for now, options would likely be the area he would examine because he has heard from many people who want to trade options.
He said perpetual futures have broadly met the needs of many users. Even so, some users trading perps still say those products do not cover every market view they want to express.
HIP-4 seen as a clear path
Yan said HIP-4 is a very obvious way to build an options protocol because it can inherit spot, the order book and portfolio margin.
He added that on the market-making side, perpetuals are already available and can be used to hedge options delta. The key question, he said, is how to turn that one missing element into something that can attract users at scale.
Yan also said he does not believe any options-like or convex payoff-style product in crypto has truly reached escape velocity, while products in that category clearly have done so in traditional finance.
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