Decentralized exchange Hyperliquid (HYPE) is preparing to launch its own U.S. dollar stablecoin, according to a Friday announcement from the Hyperliquid Foundation on the platform’s Discord server.
The protocol has reserved the ticker USDH, which validators will soon vote to allocate through an on-chain governance process, the announcement read. Teams interested in deploying USDH can submit proposals, and the winning group will be selected by validator quorum, the post added.
“The USDH ticker is well-suited for a Hyperliquid-first, Hyperliquid-aligned, and compliant USD stablecoin,” it said.
Stablecoins are a crucial piece of infrastructure of crypto markets, serving as liquidity and trading pairs to settle most trades. It’s a $270 billion asset class, currently dominated by Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC. However, with regulation put into place such as the GENIUS Act in the U.S., industry players increasingly create their own token for their ecosystems. Popular crypto wallet MetaMask is launching a stablecoin with infrastructure provider M0, while payment firm Stripe created its own in-house stablecoin with Bridge.
Hyperliquid’s trading activity suggests there could be immediate demand. The exchange handled $398 billion in perpetual derivatives trading volume and $20 billion in spot trades last month, DefiLlama data shows. Circle’s USDC (USDC) currently dominates liquidity, making up 95% of the $5.6 billion stablecoin supply on the network.
By introducing its own stablecoin, Hyperliquid, in theory, could reduce dependency on Circle while capturing revenue from assets backing the token.
Read more: Hyperliquid’s HYPE Token: Why Arthur Hayes Thinks It Has 126x Upside Potential