This content was compiled and written with AI over three days in mid-August. As of today,$HYPE it has reached a new high, with public data showing its profitability and the market share of DEX trading has made new leaps, which is truly astonishing. My research is actually thinking about$TON as the largest Web3 social network globally, it has the capability to produce phenomenal products like Hype, but why has it not happened until now? What is the unique success of Hype? When I was researching, I unconsciously went long on Hype at $40 USDT; its product manager has already been regarded as top-tier in my mind, respect! Below is my summary of the Season plan, if you are a developer/project party, I suggest you read and learn from it, and thanks again to Brother Ying for inviting me to join Binance Square.
Hyperliquid is positioned as 'on-chain Binance', a decentralized exchange (DEX) on a high-performance Layer 1 blockchain, combining the order book depth and speed of CEX with the transparency and non-custodial nature of DEX. Its core strategy is to drive growth through community-driven initiatives from the ground up, avoiding reliance on VC funding, and leveraging the airdrop mechanism of the Season plan to incentivize user contributions, building a loyal community. The Season plan started in 2023, has completed Season 1, and is currently in Season 2, with plans to launch Season 3 by the end of 2025 or early 2026, with a total airdrop size accounting for 69% of HYPE token supply (31% Genesis airdrop + 38% community rewards), valued over $18 billion.
The plan rewards users for activities such as trading, staking, and providing liquidity through a points system, driving exponential growth in platform trading volume (Q2 2025 $648 billion), TVL (over $6 billion), active user base (over 90,000), and revenue (Q2 $86.6 million). Users play roles as traders, contributors, promoters, and shareholders, earning thousands of HYPE (worth over $14,000) through token appreciation and ecosystem earnings. This report is based on the official GitBook, 2025 report, and community analysis, detailing the mechanism of the Season plan, its contribution to business segments, user roles, and profit paths.
One, Introduction: Strategic Positioning of Hyperliquid and Current Achievements
1.1 Strategy and Positioning
Hyperliquid aims to build an 'on-chain Binance' through a high-performance Layer 1 blockchain (HyperBFT consensus, 0.2 seconds block confirmation, 200,000 TPS), integrating the efficiency of CEX with the decentralized advantages of DEX. Its strategic core is community-driven growth:
No VC Dependency: Avoids cash-out risks and unfair distribution of traditional projects, rewards users through airdrops and point systems, building a loyal community.
High-Performance Infrastructure: HyperBFT achieves low latency (0.2 seconds), high throughput (200,000 TPS), comparable to CEX experience, with transaction fees as low as 0.01%-0.035%.
Ecosystem Expansion: Supports smart contracts and DApps (like Liminal and Kinetiq) through HyperEVM (launching February 2025), transforming from a single DEX to a complete DeFi ecosystem.
1.2 Current Achievements (as of August 21, 2025)
Trading Volume: Q2 2025 reached $648 billion, daily peak $2.9 billion (August 15).
Revenue: Q2 $86.6 million, primarily from perpetual contracts and spot trading.
TVL: Historical high of $6 billion, currently over $4.6 billion (August data).
User Base: Over 90,000 active users, 42% of HYPE tokens staked.
HYPE Token: Price $41.96, nearing ATH $49.86, total supply 1 billion, circulating 334 million.
Market Share: 79% of the DeFi perpetual contract market.
Future Planning: Expand HyperEVM ecosystem, launch Season 3 incentive protocol adoption, target TVL to exceed $2 billion by 2026 (already achieved), repurchase HYPE through Assistance Fund (AF) to achieve 4% annual supply contraction.
1.3 HyperBFT Consensus Mechanism
HyperBFT is Hyperliquid's custom consensus algorithm, optimized based on HotStuff, specifically designed for high-frequency financial trading:
Speed: 0.2 seconds block confirmation, 200,000 TPS (potentially up to 1 million in the future).
Security: Resistant to 1/3 malicious nodes, PoS mechanism increases cost of wrongdoing.
Low Cost: Mainnet transaction fee nearly 0, only cross-chain gas (a few cents like Arbitrum).
Function: Supports airdrop distribution (0.2 seconds confirmation 94,000 users), high-frequency trading (daily trading volume $2.9 billion) and HyperEVM (dApp deployment).
1.4 Role of HyperEVM
HyperEVM is Hyperliquid's Ethereum-compatible virtual machine, launching in February 2025, combining EVM flexibility with HyperBFT high performance:
Compatibility: Supports Solidity, simple migration of Ethereum dApps.
Performance: 0.2 seconds confirmation, 200,000 TPS, zero gas fee, on-chain order book reduces slippage.
Ecosystem Contribution: Supports Liminal ($90 million TVL, 5-10% APY) and Kinetiq ($1.3 billion TVL, 2.22% APY), contributing over 50% to total TVL, driving dApps from 0 to 10+.
Significance: Upgrading from a single DEX to a DeFi ecosystem, attracting developers, institutions, and users, forming a flywheel of 'more dApps → higher liquidity → more users.'
Two, Reasons for Launch and Core Values of the Season Plan
2.1 Reasons for Launch
The strategic goal of launching the Season plan is to achieve sustainable growth through community incentives:
Avoiding VC Risks: Traditional VC models lead to cash-out pressure and unfair distribution. Hyperliquid rewards real user activities (such as trading, staking, LP) through a fair point system, transforming users into 'shareholders' and building a loyal community.
Creating FOMO and Virality: Phased airdrops (weekly point pools) create fear of missing out, users spontaneously share strategies on X and Telegram, driving community virality.
Incentivizing Real Contribution: The points algorithm prioritizes organic behavior (like negative PNL compensation, long-term holding), penalizing wash trading, ensuring sustainable growth.
Supporting Ecosystem Expansion: Incentivize adoption of HyperEVM protocols (like Liminal, Kinetiq), expand DeFi functionalities, attract institutions and developers.
2.2 Core Values
Fairness: No pre-sale, no team allocation, 69% of tokens (31% Genesis + 38% community rewards) belong to the community, valued over $18 billion.
Sustainability: The assistance fund repurchases circulating HYPE with transaction fees (annual burn rate 26%), stabilizing coin price and strengthening long-term holding incentives.
Flywheel Effect: User contributions → points → HYPE → platform growth → price increase → more users. Over 90,000 active users in August 2025, TVL $6 billion, proving mechanism effectiveness.
Three, Breakdown of the Season Plan Mechanism
3.1 Overall Framework
The Season plan rewards on-chain activities through a point system, with points redeemable for HYPE tokens at the end of the season. Airdrops are automatically distributed on-chain, with partial lock-up to prevent selling pressure. Formula (community derived):
Total Points = Σ[(Activity Contribution × Organic Coefficient × Multiplier) - Penalties]
Activity Contribution: Trading volume × Time × Fee (0.02%-0.05%).
Organic Coefficient: Rewards natural behavior (1.0+), such as random intervals, negative PNL.
Multiplier: Staking (2-3x), NFT (2-140x), referral (1/4x).
Penalties: Wash trading deducts 50-100%, zero-risk arbitrage coefficient drops to 0.1-0.5.
Redemption: User HYPE = (User Points / Season Total Points) × Season Total HYPE. Season 1 approximately 9.12 HYPE/point, Season 2 approximately 18-19 HYPE/point, each point valued at $15-20 (HYPE $46.59).
Query: https://app.hyperliquid.xyz/points, updates every Thursday.
3.2 Season 1 (November 1, 2023 to May 28, 2024, including Season 1.5)
Mechanism: Foundational phase, focus on Perps DEX trading, rewarding early users. Total points ~34 million (1 million weekly × 26 weeks + 8 million 1.5), HYPE 31 million (31% supply), value distributed 1.5-3 billion, currently 14.4 billion. Benefiting 94,000 wallets, average 2915 HYPE/person (currently ~136,000).
Earning Methods (small users, $500 capital/week):
Perps Trading: Leverage 1-5x, hold for a few days, negative PNL compensation. 200-500 points.
Spot Trading: HYPE/PURR, intervals of a few days. 100-300 points.
LP/Staking: Deposit HyperSwap, 2-5x multiplier. 200-500 points.
Community/NFT/Referrals: PURR NFT lottery bonus points, referral 1/4x. 50-200 points.
Threshold: Bridge ETH/USDC ($100-500, 3 minutes), no KYC.
Cycle: Weekly snapshot on Wednesday 00:00 UTC, distribution on Thursday. Season 1.5 multiplier 1.5-2x.
Example: 400-1000 points weekly, season 1-26,000 points ≈ 9-23k HYPE (distributing $450,000-$2.3 million).
Contribution: Daily trading volume increased from 0 to 10,000 trades, users increased from thousands to 90,000, TVL grew 15 times, trading volume $32 billion.
3.3 Season 2 (May 29 to November 2024, including Season 2.5)
Mechanism: Focus on HyperEVM ecosystem, reward DeFi interactions. Total points ~21 million (700,000 weekly × 18 weeks + 8.4 million 2.5), HYPE ~38 million (38% supply), value distributed 10-20 billion, currently 17.7 billion. Average 1,000-4,000 HYPE/person (currently $47,000-$186,000).
Earning Methods (small users, $500 capital/week):
Staking: Kinetiq staking HYPE, 2.22% APY, cyclical 2-3x. 200-500 points.
LP: KittenSwap Stable Pool (feUSD/USDT), 2-5x, NFT 140x. 200-500 points.
Lending/Farming: Liminal Delta-neutral strategy. 150-400 points.
Spot/Perps: Organic behavior prioritized. 200-500 points.
Community/NFT/Referrals: .hl domain 140x, bridging assets. 50-200 points.
Threshold: Bridge HyperEVM (Arbitrum, $1-2).
Cycle: 700,000 points weekly, distributed on Sundays. May 1-28 event 1.5-2x.
Example: Spot $100,000 (1,000 points) + LP $5,000 (500 × 3) + NFT (100 × 5) = 3,000 points/week, season 13,000-39,000 points ≈ 23-74k HYPE (distributing $58,000-$370,000).
Contribution: TVL increased from $26.5 million to $777 million, trading volume $320 billion. Liminal ($90 million TVL) and Kinetiq ($1.3 billion TVL) contributed 35% to the ecosystem.
3.4 Season 3 Outlook (expected by the end of 2025 or early 2026)
Mechanism: Focus on HyperCore and protocols like Liminal, Kinetiq. Reward pool accounts for over 42% of remaining supply, ~700,000 points weekly. Emphasize retroactive points (backtrack Season 2).
Potential Methods:
Bridge USDC to Arbitrum, purchase HYPE.
Liminal lending feUSD, Kinetiq staking, NFT minting, LP.
Multiplier: YT model 140x, rewards for registering domain names, governance participation.
Example: Liminal farming + Kinetiq staking + NFT = 500-1500 points/week.
Contribution Outlook: TVL exceeds $2 billion, HYPE market cap doubles, attracts new users (similar to edgeX $100 million deposits).
Four, Contribution of Season Plan to Business Segment Growth
The Season plan aims to drive comprehensive growth in the Hyperliquid business segment through an incentive loop, data verifiable (2025 report).
4.1 Trading Volume and Revenue
Season 1: Trading volume increased from $0 to $32 billion, daily trading volume over 10,000 trades. Genesis airdrop (310 million HYPE, valued at $750 million) drove Q2 revenue of $86.6 million.
Season 2: Q2 trading volume reached $648 billion, daily peak $2.9 billion. Transaction fees (0.01%-0.035%) repurchase HYPE through the assistance fund (annual burn rate 26%), pushing up coin price ($48.57).
Contribution: Airdrop contributes over 80% of revenue ($86.6 million), flywheel effect (trading → fees → repurchase → price increase) attracts high-frequency traders.
4.2 TVL and Liquidity
Season 1: TVL increased 15 times, trading volume $32 billion corresponding levels.
Season 2: TVL increased from $26.5 million to $6 billion, Liminal ($90 million) and Kinetiq ($1.3 billion) USDC (peaked at $5.27 billion). Farming attracted $100 million deposits.
Outlook: Season 3 expected TVL to reach $10 billion, multiplier (e.g., 140x) enhances liquidity.
Contribution: Points incentivize LP and staking, reduce slippage, support high-frequency trading.
4.3 User Base and Community
Growth: Users increased from thousands to 90,000 (15 times after Season 1). Referral system (points/4) drives virality, community spontaneously promotes on X and Telegram.
Contribution: Airdrops turn users from traders to promoters, extending holding period by 20%.
4.4 Ecosystem and Innovation
HyperEVM: Supports Liminal (5-10% APY), Kinetiq (2.22% APY), contributing 35% to TVL. Launch platform attracts developers to deploy exchanges.
Contribution: Retroactive points and NFT bonuses promote composability, dApps from 0 to 10+, forming a flywheel effect.
Summary: The Season plan contributes over 80% of revenue (86.6%), driving growth in TVL ($6 billion), trading volume ($648 billion), and active users (90,000).
Five, User Roles and Profit Paths
5.1 User Roles
Traders and Contributors: Engage in Perps/Spot trading, staking, LP, lending (feUSD). Low threshold: bridge $100-500, no KYC.
Promoters: Hold NFT (PURR, .hl domain) to get lottery bonus points, refer friends to earn points/4, share screenshots to drive virality.
Shareholders: Points redeemable for HYPE, participate in governance voting, share trading fee dividends (repurchased via assistance fund).
5.2 Profit Paths
Points redeemable for HYPE:
Season 1: 9.12 HYPE/point, average 2915 HYPE/person (currently $136,000).
Season 2: 18-19 HYPE/point, average 1000-4000 HYPE/person (currently $47,000-$186,000).
Example: Spot $100,000 + LP $5,000 + NFT = 3000 points/week, season 23-74k HYPE (distributing $58,000-$370,000).
Token Appreciation: HYPE increased from $5 to $48.57 (August 2025), benefiting from burns (26% circulation) and the flywheel effect.
Ecosystem Earnings: Kinetiq staking 2.22% APY, Liminal farming 5-10% APY.
Fairness and Risk: Algorithm penalizes wash trading (deduct 50-100%), rewards negative PNL and long-term holding. Distribution is automatic on-chain, with partial vesting. Risk: HYPE volatility, leverage liquidation.
5.3 Queries
Query: https://app.hyperliquid.xyz/points updates weekly, or check HYPE balance with a blockchain explorer.
Six, Anti-wash Trading Measures and Fairness
Measures:
Penalties: Wash trading penalty of 50-100%, organic coefficient drops to 0.1-0.5; abnormal withdrawals, multi-wallet interactions result in point deductions.
Behavior Detection: Identify fixed intervals, zero-risk arbitrage, prioritize real risk (negative PNL).
Anti-Sybil: Monitor farms, tiered caps prevent monopolization by large accounts, formula is non-transparent.
Effect: Season 1/2 eliminated wash trading farms, high score ratio for small users.
Eligibility: Active wallets with points >0, no additional registration required. Risk: Low HYPE value at distribution, then appreciation.
Seven, Repurchase and Burn Mechanism
Principle: Assistance Fund (AF) uses transaction fees (54% perpetual, part of spot USDC, full HIP-1) to repurchase HYPE, partially burned (26% circulation), partially reserved. In 2025, repurchase ~10.1 million HYPE (annual income $587.5 million × 54% ÷ $43.55), monthly burn ~431,000 HYPE.
Example: July 15 repurchase $3.97 million (82,000 HYPE), pushing the price up to $48.57.
Significance: Reduce supply, increase value, incentivize long-term holding, attract users.
Eight, Summary
The Season plan drives Hyperliquid from $0 to $6 billion TVL, quarterly trading volume $648 billion, active users 90,000, revenue $86.6 million through phased point rewards (Season 1 foundational trading, Season 2 ecosystem expansion, Season 3 protocol deepening). Users as traders, promoters, and shareholders earn thousands of HYPE ($47,000-$186,000) + yield (2.22%-10%). Anti-bot measures ensure fairness, and the assistance fund's burn reinforces coin price. Season 3 is expected to push TVL to $10 billion, doubling HYPE market cap, continuing the flywheel effect. Hyperliquid's model demonstrates that community-driven airdrops can convert user loyalty into sustainable growth, a model for DeFi.