Hyperliquid vs. Tron: The Billion-Dollar Blockchain Showdown

Two protocols enter. One leaves.

Hyperliquid's derivatives dominance chomps at Tron's payments empire—while Justin Sun's chain still spends more on marketing than security audits.

The metrics don't lie: Daily perpetuals volume on Hyperliquid hit $1.8B last Thursday as TRX's DeFi TVL stagnates below $8B. Layer 1s used to win on first-mover advantage. Now? It's all about whose smart contracts don't get drained before breakfast.

Tron's retail army isn't jumping ship yet. But when degens care more about 100x leverage than 'decentralized content sharing,' the writing's on the blockchain.

Prediction: Hyperliquid flips Tron's market cap by Q3... unless Sun buys another exchange.

Although 2023 was an accumulation phase for many long-time cryptocurrency investors, there was a small army of people looking to get in on the ground floor of the next big airdrop. Brands like Uniswap had completed colossal airdrops, but there was a growing number of exciting projects that were hinting at a potential airdrop. 

Of course, in hindsight, for most people, the only one that truly was worth its salt was Hyperliquid. It is a juggernaut of a project, and with plans to house the whole of finance, there are HYPE maxis who are under no illusions that it will soon be chomping up the market cap of Cardano and Tron – but how realistic of a likelihood is this in the short term or even the medium term? Let’s jump in. 

The Practical Use Cases

Hype is primarily an L1 perps DEX, but the rollout of their EVM has uncovered a seismic ecosystem that is buzzing with life, innovation, and is bringing in some of the most creative minds in the space. There’s a yearning for cryptocurrencies, especially altcoins, to be able to bridge the gap between those who are passionate about the capability of digital assets and those who are scared to dip their toe in the water.

Since the beginning of the 2020s, the rise of cryptocurrency casinos has helped to alleviate some of this concern. Initially, these platforms only offered BTC gaming options, but as the crypto casino sector expanded into a multi-million dollar industry, online casino gaming companies had to adjust. 

Within a relatively short period, dozens of them now offer platforms that encompass traditional payment systems like VISA and MasterCard alongside contemporary digital asset payment options like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins like USDT. 

Casino gaming companies are not ones to sit on their hands; they are often spearheading many of the changes we’ve seen over the last decade, and they also leverage popular modern marketing strategies to onboard new customers, too, as you can see in the LINK below.

Aside from casino gaming, though, there aren’t many notable use cases for altcoins to bridge the gap to a mass audience. ethereum ETFs are financial products that are gaining traction in traditional financial circles, but as far as day-to-day retail use goes, crypto casinos are still flying the flag.

HYPE Price Predictions

As is often the case with some of the most ardent maxis of any token, you will hear HYPE price predictions of anywhere between $100 and $800. Currently, as it continues to punch through new all-time highs weekly, the target is around $60, which adds another few billion to its market cap, and one that many analysts are pretty confident it will hit within the next few months. 

For Hyperliquid to flip Tron, or to have the current market cap of Tron, the price of the token would need to be in the region of $85. Now, that’s not to say Hyperliquid can’t get into that price range in the short to medium term. Many respectable traders and investors believe that it has the potential to hit triple figures, especially in the right conditions and if there is a proper alt season like there was in 2021.

The last time we saw ETH hit its all-time high was back in 2021, and it WOULD need to not only get near this range again, but surpass it entirely to signal a true alt season. Some analysts are confident it will. 

However, for HYPE, the $80 to $100 region is a significant percentage increase from the current range. If Hype were to reach this range, it would indicate an alt season, making TRON unlikely to remain at its current price, so that’s another key variable that needs factoring in. 

The Case For Tron

Unlike Hyperliquid’s CEO, Jeff Yan, who prefers to stay out of the limelight, Justin Sun, the brains behind Tron, consistently finds himself in the public eye for various reasons. Some are more bizarre than others. If Hyperliquid is going to double in price from its current range, then tron is not going to sit still waiting for it to play catch-up; it will likely also experience significant price action amid the excitement of a fresh alt season. 

Ultimately, though, the question revolves around whether Hyperliquid is a better long-term prospect than Tron. If you are a perps trader, that answer is yes. If you are looking to invest in a coin that has close ties to the current US administration, then Tron is going to be your pick. 

Hyperliquid still needs to make some serious ground up, to the tune of billions of dollars, but with an NFT, and a rumoured season 2 all set to provide the company with a significant amount of social media engagement over the next 12 to 18 months, do not be surprise to see if flip Tron and take aim at the likes of Dogecoin.