HyENA shuts down after processing $4B in trades

HyENA has announced plans to close every market between Aug. 31 and Sept. 2 after processing more than $4 billion in trades for over 12,000 users.

Summary

• HyENA will remove one market each hour from Aug. 31 through Sept. 2.
• Open positions will settle automatically, while margin will return to users' spot balances.
• HLPe depositors can redeem their holdings and earned rewards through Upshift at a 1:1 rate.
• HyENA generated nearly 2.5 million USDe in rewards but will not issue a token.

HyENA will remove markets over three days

HyENA said in an Aug. 28 shutdown announcement that it would stop operating after changes in Hyperliquid's stablecoin setup reduced the opportunity for USDe-backed margin products.

The platform will begin delisting markets on Aug. 31 and complete the process on Sept. 2. Rather than closing every contract at once, HyENA will remove one market per hour throughout the scheduled period.

Users do not have to close their positions manually before each delisting, according to the announcement. Once a market is removed, its mark price will move toward the one-hour weighted average of the relevant oracle price before the remaining positions settle automatically.
Margin released through that process will return to each trader's spot balance. HyENA said user funds are not at risk during the closure, although traders may still choose to exit positions before their respective markets reach the settlement stage.

"User funds are safe," the team said, adding that the planned process is designed to let customers withdraw their assets without requiring manual settlement.

HyENA has handled more than $4 billion in cumulative trading volume since launch, according to the team. Over 12,000 traders used the platform, while holders of USDe margin received almost 2.5 million USDe in rewards.

Built by the Based team, HyENA used Hyperliquid's HIP-3 system to offer perpetual contracts with Ethena's USDe serving as margin. The design allowed traders to keep margin in USDe and receive rewards while using the same capital to support open derivatives positions.

Hyperliquid's USDC alignment reduced room for USDe

At launch, HyENA operated during a period when several dollar-linked assets were competing for a larger role within Hyperliquid. The team identified USDT, USDe, and USDH among the assets seeking use across the trading network.

Hyperliquid's closer relationship with USDC later changed the conditions supporting HyENA's model, the announcement said. While the team described stronger USDC integration as a reasonable course for Hyperliquid, it also said the arrangement left less room to expand USDe-based margin.

In May, Coinbase became Hyperliquid's official USDC treasury deployer under an agreement that also made USDC an aligned quote asset across the ecosystem. As crypto.news previously reported, Hyperliquid held about $5 billion in circulating USDC at the time, roughly twice the amount recorded a year earlier.

USDC gained another defined role under the agreement, with Circle supplying cross-chain infrastructure through its Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol and Coinbase handling treasury deployment. The arrangement also gave Coinbase purchasing rights for USDH-branded assets through Native Markets.

By June 11, USDC had become Hyperliquid's preferred stablecoin, according to a July JPMorgan research note. The bank estimated that Hyperliquid held about $6 billion in USDC, equal to roughly 8% of the stablecoin's circulating supply.

JPMorgan also said Coinbase would return 90% of the reserve income earned from USDC held on Hyperliquid to the protocol. The bank cut earnings estimates for Coinbase and Circle after assessing how the revenue-sharing terms could affect the two companies' stablecoin income.

The agreement provides a direct U.S. connection because Coinbase and Circle are publicly traded American companies. JPMorgan's assessment tied Hyperliquid's stablecoin setup to the earnings outlook for both firms, although the bank still expected USDC-related income to grow through 2027 based on its interest-rate forecast.

HIP-3 leaves settlement duties with market deployers

HyENA's closure also shows how HIP-3 market operators can manage contracts built on Hyperliquid without the core protocol directly running each product.

Under HIP-3, independent teams may introduce perpetual markets while using Hyperliquid's order books, margin tools and liquidation system. Deployers choose the contract, oracle, leverage limits, and settlement terms, giving each operator responsibility for managing its markets.

A May report on HIP-3 noted that the framework went live in October 2025 and requires teams to stake HYPE before creating perpetual contracts. Products launched under the framework have included synthetic markets tied to commodities, listed shares, and private companies.

More recent coverage of a sharp move in an SK Hynix-linked perpetual explained that a HIP-3 deployer supplies oracle prices, external perpetual prices, and as many as two additional mark-price inputs. Hyperliquid then combines the submitted figures with local trading data to calculate the contract's mark price.

The same HIP-3 market controls allow deployers to halt trading, adjust open-interest limits or settle contracts. HyENA is using that settlement authority to close its remaining markets according to the published schedule.

For its shutdown, HyENA said each final mark price would converge with the one-hour weighted average of the oracle price before settlement. The method matters for traders holding leveraged positions because the final mark price will determine the value at which outstanding contracts close.

HLPe withdrawals will continue through Upshift

Alongside the market closures, HyENA said users with HLPe deposits can claim their principal and accumulated rewards through Upshift. Deposits will be redeemable at a 1:1 rate, with no withdrawal charge from HyENA and a one-day redemption period.

The final regular reward distribution took place on Aug. 27, one day before the shutdown announcement. Affiliate rewards are scheduled for their last payment on Sept. 9, after the market-removal process has finished.

Ethena ended its exchange reward program in June 2026, according to HyENA. With that campaign already closed, the platform will leave HyENA Points in their final recorded state instead of taking another snapshot.

No point conversion or distribution will occur, and the points carry no monetary value, the announcement said. Addressing possible expectations of an eventual airdrop, the team also stated that HyENA has no token and no plans to issue one.