A blow to the powerful argument of onchain finance. Jeff Yan, co-founder of Hyperliquid, took advantage of a discussion at Korea Blockchain Week to cross off continuous operation from the list of real advantages of onchain markets. Crypto-assets have never needed opening hours, and traditional stock exchanges are already extending their sessions.
According to him, the real differentiator comes from two things much more spectacular than a clock that never stops: the custody of one's own funds and the complete readability of the system.
Key Points
At Korea Blockchain Week, Hyperliquid co-founder refuses to see the permanent opening of markets as a distinctive advantage
The retention of funds by the user tops the real contributions of onchain finance according to him
Complete readability of the system follows just behind, despite limited interest from the general public
Unlisted assets form the next source, already opened up by the contracts deployed via HIP-3
Hyperliquid focuses on the custody of funds rather than the clock
The permanently open market has long served as a showcase for decentralized platforms. Jeff Yan now puts it away as obsolete evidence. Crypto has never experienced an opening bell because the asset class is international in nature, and traditional exchanges fill the gap. Indeed, the Nasdaq is preparing a 24-hour session five days a week when the CME extended its crypto contracts to the weekend.
âOnchain finance, at its essence, means that users retained control and custody of their funds. I think that's the number one thing. This really matters at critical moments, when there are problems with counterparties, intermediaries and depositories. »
Jeff Yan, co-founder of Hyperliquid
Behind the word custody there is a simple mechanism at play. On a centralized platform, the client deposits his assets in the exchange's accounts and only holds a debt registered in a private database. Not your keys, not your coins. Hyperliquid, on the contrary, backs margins and positions to addresses controlled by the user's private keys, with an order book registered onchain.
Transparency forms the second pillar. Jeff Yan readily admits that it does not have âmass appealâ among everyday users.
âIt is extremely important that users can know, in theory, everything that is happening in the system. Because that level of trust and neutrality of the system, you just don't have it with a system controlled by a single private organization. »
Jeff Yan, co-founder of Hyperliquid
However, sometimes transparency has a downside. In March 2025, a trader trapped the HLP community vault on the JELLY contract, and validators had to vote to force the market to close before settling the contract at a price favorable to the platform. The vault ended the episode with a gain of around $700,000, at the cost of an intervention that several observers considered contrary to the displayed neutrality.
Hyperliquid and private markets, the next area of conquest
Continuous schedules nevertheless retain a specific usefulness, in the context of assets deprived of listing when the reference markets are closed. Jeff Yan cites commodities, stocks and pre-IPO stocks that traded on Hyperliquid while Wall Street slept. These markets are based on HIP-3, the standard which allows any operator to deploy their own perpetual contracts on the platform (this requires tying up 500,000 HYPE in staking, or more than $40 million at the current price).
âPrivate markets, I think, are a big opportunity, and we're already seeing a little bit of that in Hyperliquid. Today, a lot of wealth is created in a way that is truly locked in. »
Jeff Yan, co-founder of Hyperliquid
The lock is regulatory. American law reserves private financing rounds for accredited investors, a status which assumes $200,000 in annual income or one million dollars in assets excluding primary residence. OpenAI reached a valuation of $500 billion during a sale of shares reserved for its employees and a few funds. SpaceX has been trading over the counter for years without any public price. The co-founder of Hyperliquid does not attribute bad intentions to this filtering, but he sees it as an opportunity to open up.
âEnabling price discovery on a global scale, as early as possible, on these assets that will ultimately be extremely valuable to society and which will represent essential parts of the economy, and doing it in a way that is not confined to a single jurisdiction but rather in a sort of global financial system, that seems very promising to me. »
Jeff Yan, co-founder of Hyperliquid
