Hyperliquid: The 11-Person Crypto DEX Generating Over $1 Billion Annually

Hyperliquid, a decentralized perpetuals exchange built on its own Layer-1 blockchain, has achieved a staggering $1 billion in annualized revenue with only 11 employees. This translates to over $102 million per employee, surpassing industry giants like Tether, OnlyFans, and Nvidia in revenue productivity.

The platform's revenue stems primarily from trading fees, with cumulative fees and revenue rising in near-perfect sync. Hyperliquid's lean operation focuses on engineering excellence, enabling $10 billion in daily trading volume. Founder Jeff Yan eschewed venture capital, opting for a self-funded model that prioritizes product development, community, and selective hiring of elite talent from top institutions and trading firms.

Data from DefiLlama reveals $610 million in cumulative fees since launch, underscoring Hyperliquid's dominance in decentralized derivatives trading. The protocol's efficiency challenges traditional notions of scale, proving that crypto-native teams can outperform legacy financial institutions with fraction of the resources.