Hyperliquid has seen another surge in leveraged activity, with open interest on the decentralized derivatives platform pushing close to $14.7 billion. The build-up comes after open interest had already moved past $14.3 billion and now sits near the level recorded before the platform’s major deleveraging episode last year. HYPE, Hyperliquid’s native token, also set a fresh all-time high recently, bringing renewed attention to liquidation risk as price and positioning rose at the same time.
Open interest reaches about $14.69 billion
According to the report, Hyperliquid’s total open interest climbed to about $14.3 billion on Sunday, Sept. 6. That put it only around 3% below the roughly $14.7 billion level seen before the sharp market deleveraging in October 2025.
More recent figures show the expansion has not stopped. DefiLlama data as of noon on Sept. 9 showed open interest in Hyperliquid L1 perpetual contracts at about $14.69 billion. The same data set showed roughly $4.98 billion in 24-hour perpetual volume and more than $210.5 billion in volume over the past 30 days.
HYPE hit a record $89.60 before pulling back
The rise in trading activity has also shown up in HYPE’s price action. CoinGecko data cited in the report showed HYPE reached an intraday high of $89.60 on Sept. 6, setting a new record. By Sept. 9, it had slipped back to around $84, about 6% below that peak. Its market capitalization stood at about $18.7 billion, while 24-hour spot trading volume was close to $1 billion.
The token had gained more than 50% over the past month. With price appreciation and derivatives positioning expanding together, market participation has clearly increased. It also means a larger amount of capital is being deployed through leveraged bets on future direction.
Recent growth is shifting away from HIP-3
The composition of Hyperliquid’s open-interest growth has changed. Earlier this year, the HIP-3 market was an important driver of that increase. Its share of total Hyperliquid open interest rose from about 18% in March to more than 34% in August, and HIP-3 open interest at one point reached a record $4.44 billion.
Over the past month, however, Hyperliquid’s total open interest increased by about $3.57 billion while HIP-3 open interest fell by about $119 million. Its share dropped from roughly 34% to around 25%. In other words, newly added positions have been flowing back into Hyperliquid’s core crypto perpetual markets rather than being driven mainly by HIP-3.
Past deleveraging remains a key reference point
High open interest does not by itself mean the market is set to turn lower. But in leveraged markets, a bigger open-interest base means a larger amount of unsettled long and short positions. If prices move quickly in one direction, cascading liquidations can amplify volatility.
Hyperliquid has already gone through that kind of move before. During the sharp deleveraging across the crypto market on Oct. 10-11, 2025, the platform’s open interest dropped from about $14.7 billion to $6.5 billion in a single day, a contraction of about 56%. With open interest now close to that earlier level again, the historical comparison has become relevant once more.
The report also draws a distinction: open interest near a record high does not prove the market is overheated, and it does not on its own show that long positions are about to be liquidated. Open-interest data includes both longs and shorts. To determine whether positioning has become extremely one-sided, traders would still need to look at funding rates, long-short ratios, and liquidation distribution.
For now, HYPE has cooled modestly after nearly touching $90 and setting a record high, while Hyperliquid’s overall open interest remains close to historical highs. The next key question is not only whether HYPE can break back above $90, but also whether nearly $14.7 billion in open positions can be absorbed in an orderly way if volatility expands again. If open interest keeps rising while price momentum weakens, Hyperliquid’s leverage structure could become a larger factor in the next round of market swings.