This episode provides a comprehensive playbook for navigating the explosive growth of the Hyperliquid ecosystem, detailing over 20 early-stage protocols with significant airdrop and investment potential.
Introduction to the Hyperliquid Ecosystem
Grant kicks off the discussion by highlighting a significant gap in crypto content: a lack of deep-dive analysis into the emerging projects on Hyperliquid and its accompanying EVM-compatible layer, HyperEVM. He positions the episode as a definitive guide, covering more than 20 new protocols, many of which are pre-token and offer early-adopter opportunities through points programs, NFT mints, and private betas.
Aura: The Social Trading App
- Core Concept: Aura is a mobile-first social trading application built on Hyperliquid, designed to be an "everything app" for the modern crypto user. It aims to abstract away blockchain complexity, combining perpetuals trading, yield opportunities, and social features in a single, well-branded interface.
- Speaker's Analysis: Grant praises Aura's branding and strategic positioning, noting its focus on the mobile-first trend. He emphasizes the importance of its upcoming points program and referral system for maximizing potential airdrops.
- Actionable Insight: The private beta is imminent. Grant suggests seeking an invite code by reaching out to prominent community members or the Aura team directly. He also highlights the upcoming mint of 4,444 "Aurelios" NFTs, which are designed to solve common token launch issues like insider overhang and inaccessibility.
Blueberry: Decentralized HLP Strategies
- Core Concept: Blueberry is developing DeFi yield strategies on HyperEVM, with a specific focus on providing access to Hyperliquid's liquidity provider token (HLP). HLP represents a share in the exchange's liquidity pool, which earns fees from trading activity.
- Speaker's Analysis: Grant highlights Blueberry's cautious and security-focused approach. Unlike other projects rushing to market, Blueberry is waiting for pre-compiles to go live on Hyperliquid. Pre-compiles are highly optimized, low-level functions that will enable fully decentralized, smart contract-based interactions with the core exchange layer, eliminating the need for centralized multisig wallets.
- Key Quote: "Public service announcement for Hyper EVM users. Every tokenized HLP going live this week, it's just a multisig, no smart contracts, no onchain logic. You're handling full control of your funds to a wallet."
- Strategic Implication: Investors should be aware of the trust assumptions involved with current tokenized HLP offerings, which rely on multisigs. Blueberry represents a more decentralized and secure alternative to watch for once pre-compiles are active.
Delo: An Atomic Stablecoin
- Core Concept: Delo is building DUSD, an atomic stablecoin on Hyperliquid inspired by Ethena's USDe. It maintains its peg through a delta-neutral strategy, holding a spot long position in HYPE while simultaneously opening a short perpetuals position. This structure earns yield from both perpetual funding rates and, potentially, HYPE staking rewards.
- Speaker's Analysis: Grant explains that Hyperliquid's deep liquidity is what makes a fully on-chain version of this model viable for the first time. The "atomic" nature means that as soon as a user deposits collateral, the protocol will instantly buy spot HYPE and open the short hedge on Hypercore.
- Strategic Implication: Like Blueberry, Delo is waiting for pre-compiles to launch its fully functional, decentralized version. This project represents a native, high-yield stablecoin opportunity within the Hyperliquid ecosystem.
Sentiment: Leveraged Lending and Yield
- Core Concept: Sentiment is a leveraged lending protocol on HyperEVM that allows users to borrow, lend, and execute complex yield strategies in a simplified interface. It leverages Hyperliquid's infrastructure to offer strategies like looping staked HYPE.
- Speaker's Analysis: Grant points out that with a Total Value Locked (TVL) of $29 million, Sentiment is significantly smaller than lending protocols on other chains, suggesting a potential valuation gap and opportunity for growth.
- Actionable Insight: The protocol has an ongoing points program. Given its relatively low TVL, early participation could yield outsized rewards compared to more saturated platforms.
DOT: Pioneering HLP-3 Markets
- Core Concept: DOT is a protocol focused on building within the upcoming HLP-3 market, a new, yet-to-be-detailed market structure on Hyperliquid.
- Speaker's Analysis: Grant notes that while there are no immediate actions to take, DOT is a key project to monitor for anyone looking to gain early exposure to the next evolution of Hyperliquid's market infrastructure.
- Strategic Implication: Researchers and investors should keep notifications on for DOT to be among the first to understand and participate in HLP-3 markets as they come online.
Under-the-Radar and Speculative Plays
- Zelta / Hyperion: Zelta is described as an "L2 powered by AI" being built on HyperEVM. Grant is transparent about the lack of information and advises caution. He connects it to Hyperion, a company acting like a "MicroStrategy for HYPE" by accumulating large amounts of the token.
- Dream Cash: A mobile-first trading app with a nondescript website. Grant suggests this is another project where getting in early with a referral code could be beneficial for potential airdrops.
- Liminal: A delta-neutral yield strategy protocol, similar to Delo, that is currently in a closed, invite-only beta. It boasts a 9.81% 30-day rolling APY on stablecoins with a TVL of $38 million. Getting an invite code is the primary action here.
Why Not Higher: A Novel Launchpad Model
- Core Concept: From the founder of Ooga Booga on Berachain, Why Not Higher is a launchpad on HyperEVM designed to prevent sniping and reward genuine platform users. It uses an infinite bonding curve, a mathematical model where token price is determined by supply.
- Speaker's Analysis: Grant details the unique mechanism: to buy a new token ("Higher"), users must first trade on the platform to earn a non-transferable token called "Mana." This Mana is then spent along with HYPE to acquire the new token, creating a system that rewards active participants and deters bots and insiders with fresh wallets.
- Strategic Implication: This model attempts to solve a major pain point in token launches. If successful, it could create a powerful flywheel where platform usage directly translates to early investment opportunities, aligning incentives between the protocol and its users.
The Options Market Heats Up
- Unnamed Protocol: An options platform offering up to 1,000x leverage on one-minute charts, framed as a simple long/short binary option to appeal to degens.
- IVX: A more established options protocol with strong backers that has recently deployed on HyperEVM. It offers options on ETH, BTC, SOL, and HYPE and has a points and referral system.
- Risk: A protocol that cleverly frames a complex options strategy—the covered call—in a simple way. A covered call involves selling a call option on an asset you already own. Risk positions this as "getting paid to sell," allowing users to earn significant APRs by setting a future price at which they are willing to sell their HYPE.
Additional Ecosystem Opportunities
- Hyperwave: A simple interface for minting a tokenized HLP. Grant reiterates the caution from Blueberry: this currently operates on a multisig and carries trust assumptions until pre-compiles are live.
- Liquid Perps: A mobile-first perpetuals trading app with a strong UI/UX, currently in a private beta. Grant hints they may soon add spot token trading.
- Repric: A protocol building speculative markets on future Hyperliquid metrics, such as revenue, bridge volume, and open interest. This allows for more direct, beta-heavy bets on the ecosystem's growth.
- Kinetic: A liquid staking provider for HYPE. Grant strongly advises getting involved as early as possible, as Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) are often a TVL-driven game where early liquidity providers benefit most.
- Hypeman: A new NFT project on Hyperliquid.
- Hyper G8: A trading terminal that integrates both Hypercore and HyperEVM.
Conclusion: The Early Adopter's Advantage
This episode underscores that the primary opportunity in the Hyperliquid ecosystem lies in early access to protocols building novel financial primitives. For investors and researchers, the key is to actively seek out invite codes, participate in points programs, and monitor projects that are waiting for key infrastructure like pre-compiles to launch.
