For the week of July 13-19, 2026, trading volume from tokenized traditional financial instruments, known as Real-World Assets (RWAs), on the Hyperliquid platform surpassed that of cryptocurrencies for the first time. RWAs accounted for 52% of Hyperliquid’s total weekly trading volume, according to data reported by Blockworks.
Lorenzo Valente, director of digital assets research at ARK Invest, announced this milestone on the social media platform X. During the specified week, RWAs generated $25.1 billion in trading volume, making up 52% of Hyperliquid’s total weekly volume of $48.2 billion. Valente also noted a running figure where RWA trading volume stood at 54%, totaling $26 billion.
This development occurred within a broader market context where total perpetual Decentralized Exchange (DEX) volume across the industry reached $79 billion last week. Hyperliquid processed a significant portion of this, handling $50 billion. Notably, the $26 billion in RWA trading on Hyperliquid alone was larger than the combined crypto perpetual volume of all other decentralized exchanges combined.
HIP-3 Framework Fuels RWA Growth
The mechanism enabling this growth is HIP-3, a framework launched by Hyperliquid in October 2025. This framework allows external teams to build their own perpetual markets using Hyperliquid’s infrastructure, requiring builders to stake 500,000 HYPE tokens, valued at approximately $30 million.
Since June, single stocks have become the dominant type of RWA traded within the HIP-3 system, now comprising 61% of all RWA trading. The HIP-3 platform has previously hosted pre-IPO markets for companies such as SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI, with SK Hynix being the most-traded stock on Hyperliquid.
Shifting Market Focus
Valente has expressed a shift in his perspective on market aggregation, stating he is no longer convinced that RWA trading will naturally converge on the same venues as crypto. He predicts the emergence of dedicated category leaders within the RWA space and suggests that a platform’s dominance in Bitcoin and Ethereum flow may be less critical than previously assumed. Valente added that traders solely focused on crypto tokens might be concentrating on the wrong market.
This trend has drawn attention from institutional players. In September 2025, ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood compared Hyperliquid to Solana in its early days on the Master Investor podcast, highlighting its potential as a “new kid on the block.” ARK Invest has not reported any subsequent positions in the platform.
Despite the significant RWA volume, uncertainties remain. It is not yet reported whether RWA trading will indeed aggregate on separate venues from crypto, and ARK Invest has not disclosed any further investment actions since Wood’s podcast remarks. The data indicates a notable shift in trading activity on Hyperliquid, suggesting a potential evolution in the focus of decentralized finance.
Why This Matters
The materials describe a narrow update: For the week of July 13-19, 2026, trading volume from tokenized traditional financial instruments (RWAs) on Hyperliquid surpassed crypto trading volume. ARK has not reported any position in Hyperliquid since Cathie Wood’s podcast statement.
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