Hyperliquid’s Bold Vision for DeFi | Jeff Yan | S9 E3

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May 13, 2025

Jeff Yan, Co-founder of Hyperliquid and a veteran in market making, shares insights on building a decentralized exchange. He discusses Hyperliquid's push to create an L1 and the innovative trading tech designed to enhance usability. The conversation touches on the evolution of perpetual DEXs and the integration of spot markets, alongside strategies to mitigate miner extractable value (MEV). Jeff also emphasizes the importance of empowering builders in DeFi, fostering a collaborative and sustainable ecosystem for innovative project development.

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ANECDOTE

Jeff Yan's Journey to Hyperliquid

Jeff Yan shares his journey from Harvard math and CS to market making and crypto prop trading.
FTX's collapse motivated him to co-found Hyperliquid to build a trusted DeFi platform.

INSIGHT

Why Build an L1 Blockchain

Hyperliquid evolved from a Perp DEX into building its own L1 blockchain.
Building an L1 was necessary for the high throughput and low latency required for global finance.

INSIGHT

Dual Role of Staking

Staking on Hyperliquid secures the network and lowers trading fees for users.
Staking also holds perpetual deployers accountable through slashing, encouraging honest market deployment.

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In this episode, we sat down with Jeff Yan, Co-founder of Hyperliquid, to discuss Hyperliquid’s origins, their decision to build an L1, and the architecture behind Hyperliquid. We also discuss MEV mitigation, builder deployed perps, and balancing vertical integration with ecosystem growth.

Thanks for tuning in!

Resources

Priority Is All You Need: https://www.paradigm.xyz/2024/06/priority-is-all-you-need

The Path to Decentralized Nasdaq: https://www.anza.xyz/blog/the-path-to-decentralized-nasdaq

0xResearch: Hyperliquid’s Unique Approach to a Better Perp DEX: https://youtu.be/cxyUtPoC1-E

Marinade is the premier staking delegation platform on Solana, bringing billions in liquidity and security to the Solana network, and connecting SOL holders to the best staking rates.

Since launching in 2021, Marinade has expanded their suite of products to provide solutions for both DeFi users and TradFi, including liquid and native staking, as well as direct enterprise integrations.

To learn more about Marinade, follow the link below: https://marinade.finance/?utm_source=blockworks&utm_medium=partnerships&utm_campaign=podcast

Citrea is the first zero-knowledge rollup to enhance the capabilities of Bitcoin blockspace and enable Bitcoin applications (₿apps). Citrea is optimistically verified by Bitcoin, offering the most Bitcoin-secured and native way to extend BTC’s utility to DeFi.

Learn more about Citrea: https://citrea.xyz/?utm_source=bellcurve&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=website_promo

Follow Citrea on X/Twitter for the latest on its journey to mainnet: https://x.com/citrea_xyz

Grab your tickets to Permissionless IV.

Use code BELL10 for 10% off: https://blockworks.co/event/permissionless-iv

Follow Hyperliquid: https://x.com/HyperliquidX

Follow Jeff: https://x.com/chameleon_jeff

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Timestamps:

(0:00) Introduction

(3:54) Thoughts on FTX

(6:55) The Origins of Hyperliquid

(11:47) Marinade Ad

(12:01) HyperCore x HyperEVM Architecture

(17:44) Why Build an L1 Instead of an L2?

(22:35) Thoughts on MEV and MCP

(34:55) Marinade Ad

(35:34) Hyperliquid's Edge vs Centralized Exchanges

(39:22) Growing the Hyperliquid Ecosystem

(49:52) Citrea Ad

(50:21) Builder Deployed Perps

(53:24) Thoughts on Vertical Integration

(1:01:00) The Role of Stablecoins in the Hyperliquid Ecosystem

(1:06:16) Outro

Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bell Curve is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.