Perpetual contracts have become a battleground for stablecoins.
Written by: David Christopher
Compiled by: Chopper, Foresight News
Hyperliquid is currently one of the hottest assets in the crypto space. Last week, 21Shares and Bitwise launched the HYPE spot ETF on US exchanges, with Grayscale and VanEck quickly following suit to ramp up their positions. Behind the rush of institutional capital coming in, a long-term resource battle over the earnings rights of this exchange has already begun.
Last autumn, Hyperliquid publicly called for proposals for a native stablecoin USDH, aiming to recapture substantial outflowing yields. Previously, the platform's bridge channels held about 5.6 billion USDC, generating nearly 200 million dollars in annual interest income that went entirely to Coinbase and Circle, with Hyperliquid not getting a dime.
After community voting, Native Markets defeated bidders like Paxos and Ethena to secure the issuance rights for USDH and officially go live.
The partnership landscape has flipped upside down.
However, just last week, Native Markets announced it would sell its USDH-related business to Coinbase, with both parties reaching an agreement: gradually shutting down the native stablecoin USDH and redesignating USDC as the platform's core pricing and settlement currency. In exchange, Hyperliquid will receive 90% of the relevant profit-sharing (the specific revenue settlement mechanism remains to be fully clarified).
Initially, the outside world generally believed that this transaction was a one-sided profit for Hyperliquid, with Coinbase and Circle making concessions; however, this perspective is not entirely accurate.
The benefits that Hyperliquid gains from this transaction are evident.
The profit-sharing ratio has significantly increased, with revenue scales nearly reaching twice that of the previous USDH period.
Leveraging Coinbase's deep resources in U.S. politics and regulatory circles for strong compliance backing.
Returning to the USDC ecosystem that users are already accustomed to, optimizing the overall user experience while adapting to the HIP-3 mainstream trading market that has supported the platform's popularity over the past six months.
The outside world has underestimated the core demands of Coinbase and Circle. The most crucial value of this partnership is to open up unprecedented channels for USDC circulation, with strategic significance far beyond the surface.
The growth momentum of USDC.
Since the implementation of the (GENIUS Act) in the U.S., USDC has seen significant development dividends. Circle has been proactive, with its positioning of USDC's domestic issuance and strict compliance perfectly aligning with the new regulatory requirements, leading to steady increases in trading volume.
Allium data shows that by May 2026, the on-chain trading volume of USDC will reach $355 billion, surpassing USDT in recent months, with its growth rate accelerating after the implementation of the new regulations.
However, the market's existing landscape has not undergone substantial change. On the eve of the (GENIUS Act) implementation in April 2025, USDT's market share was 67%, while USDC was at 27.6%; a year later, USDT’s share increased to 67.3%, while USDC only slightly rose to 28.1%, indicating that the overall share has barely moved. Even with a spike in USDC trading activity, its market share remains unchanged.
Previous industry reports indicated that the U.S. is the core base for USDC, and with the new regulations in place, it has become its primary growth area. However, the competition in the domestic market is becoming increasingly fierce: payment giant Stripe has launched the Tempo stablecoin to enter the sector, and several large traditional financial institutions have also issued domestic stablecoins compliant with new regulations, continually squeezing USDC's domestic market space.
In contrast, USDC has virtually no foothold in overseas markets. The vast majority of the global regions still use USDT as the universal dollar settlement asset, serving multiple purposes including savings, investment, and trading, with its territory continuing to expand. Over the past year, multiple emerging public chains have been launched, primarily aimed at further broadening USDT's circulation scenarios; Tether has even launched USAT, compliant with new U.S. regulations, directly targeting the domestic market and directly challenging USDC.
Currently, Coinbase and Circle hold the momentum for growth and must seize the window of opportunity to capture circulation channels to avoid being outpaced by competitors, with the perpetual contract trading sector being the best breakthrough point.
Perpetual contracts are the battleground for stablecoins.
Perpetual contracts are one of the fastest-growing sectors in the crypto industry, consistently maintaining year-on-year growth rates in multiples. This sector is deeply tied to stablecoins, with the vast majority of perpetual contract trading priced and settled in stablecoins.
Currently, USDT has firmly secured its first-mover advantage, becoming the core settlement currency for the majority of trading pairs on the world’s leading centralized exchange, Binance. Binance users predominantly trade using USDT, further solidifying the USDT supply on the platform while also driving platform withdrawal and deposit activities and the circulation of related ecosystems.
Although Hyperliquid's overall trading volume does not match Binance's, it is the largest on-chain perpetual contract exchange, holding 30% of the on-chain perpetual contract market share, with an open interest ratio as high as 46%, making its leading position in the industry difficult to shake.
As of April 30 data, its trading volume reached 50% of Bybit, 30% of OKX, and nearly 80% of Coinbase's international site. Although it is only 13% of Binance's trading volume, the growth momentum is very strong.
With its absolute dominance in the on-chain perpetual contract space, Hyperliquid's reach is comparable to Binance's overseas layout, providing an excellent opportunity for Coinbase and Circle: leveraging the Hyperliquid ecosystem to position USDC against USDT, effectively breaking through channels and establishing it as a crucial hub for USDC's global circulation.
Coinbase's pragmatic layout approach.
Many people wonder why Coinbase hasn’t taken the initiative to expand its perpetual contract business and establish dedicated trading channels. The core reason lies in regulatory constraints: due to local regulatory policies in the U.S., Coinbase's user coverage and the types of tradable assets are strictly limited, currently only serving about 100 countries, far fewer than Binance's 180 countries and regions.
In contrast, the operating environment of Hyperliquid is much more relaxed, allowing its business to reach more markets; this geographical layout advantage is something Coinbase cannot replicate.
As a result, Coinbase and Circle have chosen to leverage each other. Hyperliquid will be responsible for opening up the global market landscape, allowing USDC to penetrate and expand. Through this collaboration, Coinbase can share in the growth dividends of the sector without directly facing the complex regulatory barriers in various regions, capturing a massive market share and revenue that would be difficult to achieve solely through its own strength.
Tether has emulated a similar strategy.
Tether has also long implemented a similar strategy and has already put it into practice. This April, after the Solana ecosystem DEX Drift encountered a security vulnerability incident, Tether announced it would invest up to $147.5 million to help it restart operations, securing multiple partnerships: designating USDT as the core settlement asset of the platform, building a dedicated USDT liquidity pool for market makers, and launching trading incentive activities.
In simple terms, Tether has successfully taken over the dominant currency position in the mainstream Solana perpetual contract decentralized exchanges amid the industry crisis. Previously, the circulation volume of USDC within the Solana ecosystem was more than twice that of USDT, but now the landscape has been rewritten.
The two major stablecoin giants have reached a consensus: the perpetual contract sector is the key battlefield that will determine the future landscape of the stablecoin market.
To firmly grasp the development opportunities brought by the (GENIUS Act), Coinbase and Circle urgently need to further broaden circulation scenarios, and the collaboration with Hyperliquid is the optimal solution. Leveraging this leading on-chain trading hub, USDC can enter the fastest-growing sector in the crypto industry, gaining the strength to compete directly with USDT and the Binance ecosystem.
Meanwhile, the regulatory winds in the industry continue to be favorable: the chair of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has publicly stated support for the opening of perpetual contract trading in the U.S., and the (CLARITY Act) may clear related obstacles; the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has also launched innovative exemption policies under the "Project Crypto" framework, easing the access conditions for tokenized U.S. stock on-chain trading for crypto platforms.
In the context of the dual relaxation of regulations from two major regulatory bodies, Coinbase has completed its layout in advance, preparing Hyperliquid, which carries USDC, for its entry into the U.S. market, seizing the first-mover advantage.
Various industry signs indicate that Wall Street and various institutional investors view Hyperliquid as the core entry point for engaging with the next generation of perpetual contract trading systems, which will bring long-term growth potential for both the platform and USDC.