Native Markets has officially rolled out USDH, a new stablecoin for Hyperliquid. Traders can now exchange USDH against USDC on the platform. The new token quickly grabbed attention, seeing about $2 million in trading volume in its first day.
This launch is a big step for Hyperliquid, a major player in decentralized crypto trading. Hyperliquid operates one of the world’s leading on-chain perpetual exchanges. It currently handles over 35% of the global activity in this area. Its market share reached a high of 70% back in May.
The creation of USDH followed a lively contest among several issuers, including big names like Paxos, Ethena, and Frax. Native Markets ultimately won the chance to issue Hyperliquid’s first dollar-pegged token. USDH is built directly on HyperEVM, a part of Hyperliquid’s network that works like Ethereum’s virtual machine. This allows tokens like USDH to be created efficiently and smoothly. The entire Hyperliquid system, including bridges and connections, makes it easy for these assets to move around. This includes new trading pairs like USDH/USDC.
A Strong Start in Trading
Just hours after its debut, USDH generated roughly $2.2 million in trading volume. You can find these figures on the platform’s own data, for example, on the USDH/USDC trading page. The USDH/USDC pair traded at 1.001 right from the start, showing it held its value well. This calm but active launch is just the beginning of a phased rollout, as Native Markets had planned.
USDH stands on solid ground. Its reserves are fully backed by cash and short-term U.S. Treasury bonds. Its management mixes traditional off-chain methods with transparent on-chain parts. This transparency comes from reliable oracle data sources.
The goal behind USDH is simple: make Hyperliquid less reliant on outside stablecoins like USDC. Right now, USDC makes up more than 90% of all deposits on the platform. By having its own stablecoin, Hyperliquid can keep more of its liquidity and the earnings from its reserves within its own system. For instance, 50% of the income from these reserves will be used to buy back HYPE, which is Hyperliquid’s own token. The other 50% will go towards growing the community, according to the official plan.
Joining a Crowded Market
USDH arrives in a very competitive and quickly growing stablecoin market. This market is currently valued at over $300 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data. Tether’s USDT is still the giant, holding a market cap of $173 billion.
Recently, other companies have also jumped into the stablecoin space. MetaMask, a popular crypto wallet, launched its mUSD stablecoin. Tether also announced USAT, a new stablecoin for the United States, designed to follow new regulations. Tether is working with Cantor Fitzgerald and Anchorage Digital Bank on this, though the launch date isn’t set yet.
For Hyperliquid, USDH is a critical move. It offers the platform more control over its cash flow and fees. It also strengthens Hyperliquid’s own system for settling trades. This is happening at a time when stablecoins are becoming more and more popular on exchanges and other crypto networks.