- Voting is underway in a high-stakes contest to select Hyperliquid’s native stablecoin.
- Native Markets, allied with Stripe, holds an early but slim lead.
- The winner will control $5.5 billion in deposits and a crucial DeFi rails.
The first shots have been fired in a heated, high-stakes battle over the financial direction of one of the fastest-growing crypto exchanges.
The race to determine Hyperliquid’s native stablecoin, USDH, is ongoing, and in the early innings the powerful team Native Markets—tied to Stripe—has built a modest advantage.
However, with the majority of votes still undecided, the final prize remains largely up for grabs.
As of Thursday morning in Hong Kong, Native Markets had secured 30.8 percent of delegated stake, a lead bolstered by large validators such as infinitefield.xyz and Alphaticks.
Its nearest competitors, New York-regulated Paxos Labs and the innovative Ethena, trail with 7.6 percent and 4.5 percent respectively. Other contenders, despite flashy proposals, have not yet attracted significant support.
Undecided Whales and the Path to Victory
This is not a race that can be decided in the early stages. The broader, more decisive picture is that more than half of the total stake—57 percent—remains unallocated.
That silent majority includes some of the most powerful and influential validators in the Hyperliquid network, including the largest, Nansen x HypurrCollective, which alone controls over 18 percent of votes, as well as institutional heavyweight Galaxy Digital.
The final outcome will hinge on where these titans ultimately cast their votes.
Their decisions will determine whether Native Markets’ early momentum becomes a decisive opening salvo or just a fleeting advantage in a long, unpredictable contest. The deadline for this pivotal decision is September 14.
Prizes on a Grand Scale
The stakes in this competition cannot be overstated. This is far more than a token launch; it is a battle to attach a new stablecoin directly to the financial backbone of a major DeFi hub.
Hyperliquid currently holds an astonishing $5.5 billion in USDC deposits, roughly 7.5 percent of that stablecoin’s circulating supply.
Replacing that USDC with USDH would be a monumental shift, redirecting hundreds of millions of dollars in annual treasury yield into the winning protocol.
Contenders have come to the table with generous pledges to win validator support. Paxos has committed to allocating 95 percent of its earnings to buy back Hyperliquid’s native token, HYPE.
Frax pledged 100 percent of its profits directly to users. Agora offered 100 percent of its net return along with institutional custody services.
Because Hyperliquid already commands nearly 80 percent of the decentralized perpetuals trading market, the victor of this contest will not merely issue a stablecoin; they will forge a new, foundational rail for the future of decentralized finance.
Market Updates
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BTC: Bitcoin is trading at $114,053, up 2.6 percent over the past 24 hours. The move reflects a short-term rebound driven by improved risk sentiment, even as long-term consolidation continues.
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ETH: Ethereum is trading at $4,373.99, up 2 percent, as investors shrug off a recent mass slashing that penalized over 30 validators—an event that highlighted network resilience.
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Gold: Gold remains near $3,635 per ounce after peaking at $3,674 on Tuesday. Investors await U.S. inflation data while investment bank ANZ raised its year-end target to $3,800, forecasting a potential peak near $4,000 by next June.