CMC News

#Circle Invests in #Hyperliquid While Launching Native $USDC

Circle has announced its investment in the Hyperliquid ecosystem alongside deploying native $USDC on the derivatives-focused protocol. The stablecoin issuer now holds $HYPE tokens and is considering becoming a network validator.

The company launched $USDC natively on HyperEVM, Hyperliquid's smart contract layer, marking the first step toward enabling deposits into the platform's spot and perpetuals exchange. Circle went public on June 5 and issues the dollar-backed stablecoin redeemable at 1:1 ratios.

Circle first announced expansion plans into Hyperliquid during July 2025. A company spokesperson confirmed Tuesday's launch simply delivers on that previously outlined roadmap for ecosystem integration.

#Hyperliquid specializes in decentralized finance derivatives trading and hit $330 billion in trading volume by July. The protocol launched its layer-1 network nearly a year ago and has built significant momentum in the DeFi space.

The announcement comes after Hyperliquid's validator community selected Native Markets to issue the protocol's upcoming native #stablecoin called $USDH. This decision followed a competitive process drawing bids from major firms including Paxos, Frax, Sky, Agora, Ethena, OpenEden and BitGo.

Validators on Hyperliquid stake $HYPE tokens to secure the blockchain, validate transactions, and participate in governance decisions. The top 21 validators by stake form the active validator set responsible for proposing and confirming network blocks.