Hyperliquid has issued a stark warning to traders as its HIP-3 markets, led by oil perpetual futures, flash a major volatility signal after hitting a staggering $2.3 billion open interest record—a surge that analysts warn could trigger a sharp 10% correction in RWA derivatives. The explosive growth, primarily fueled by TradeXYZ's newly launched cross-margin trading for silver, gold, and S&P 500 contracts, underscores Hyperliquid's rapid ascent as the dominant venue for real-world asset trading, with weekly activity consistently reaching new all-time highs.

Hyperliquid still hosts peak oil volumes

In April, HIP-3 RWA activity became more diverse, less focused on oil trades. Crude oil open interest declined from its peak $1.5B record, but other assets compensated for the slide. 

Most notably, equities climbed up the ranks, displacing silver and gold. The S&P500 and XYZ100, in pairs against USDC, added $500M in open interest to HIP-3. 

Brent perpetual futures expanded above $576M in open interest, while WTI recovered to $561.30M. Oil trading is also highly active, with 74.9% order fills for Brent and 74.8% for WTI, signaling the availability of liquid counterparties. As Cryptopolitan reported, the oil market also turned into an arena for whales to compete for long and short positions. 

RWA competes with crypto trading

On Hyperliquid, six of the top 10 most active assets are based on RWA, either a single market or indexes. Oil perpetual futures come just behind the BTC, ETH, and HYPE markets, already solidly in the top 5 Hyperliquid assets. 

Equity contracts are on track to displace SOL from its position as one of the hottest crypto assets on Hyperliquid. 

HIP-3 is also defying the general DEX trading trend. DEX activity is down to one-year lows, mostly due to the loss of interest in tokens and altcoins. However, HIP-3 is offering contracts based on a real-world narrative, which are more immune to insider action. 

Hyperliquid still makes up around a third of DEX volumes, leaving behind other liquidity venues. The recent growth in trading is not dependent on any specific incentives or trading seasons. 

Hyperliquid still carries over $3B in daily trading, excluding the usual crypto hype and retail activity, which fell off a cliff in October 2025. 

The platform also draws attention based on the behavior of whales. The threat of oil shocks led to new inflows of USDC, used to open high-leverage long positions. Those positions go against the bets of Abraxas Capital, which retains its positions against WTI and Brent, absorbing negative fees and unrealized losses.

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