Enough ink has been spilled about Hyperliquid - It is by far the breakout application of this cycle. Hyperliquid has a lot going for it. It is dominating perp-DEX volumes and capturing significant market share even from centralized exchanges. In addition, it is fostering a burgeoning HyperEVM ecosystem with tight integration between its EVM and core exchange product.

However, here we want to focus on the expanding distribution that Hyperliquid has via Builder Codes.

Builder Codes are a core strategic innovation by Hyperliquid introduced in October 2024. They allow any developer to build a frontend (bot, wallet, app) on top of Hyperliquid’s backend and earn a share of trading fees routed through their interface. This flips the traditional user acquisition model: instead of spending on marketing, Hyperliquid incentivizes developers to drive growth by integrating trading functionality directly into their own products.

Hyperliquid charges builders 0bps on maker volumes and 2bps on taker volumes. Hyperliquid rebates 0.5bps on taker volumes back to Builders as a referral fee. Builders have the flexibility to bake in their own fees on top of the 0bp maker / 2bps taker fees that Hyperliquid charges.

The model represents a distribution engine that decentralizes product delivery:

• Developers don’t need to build matching engines or attract liquidity.

• Hyperliquid offloads user acquisition and innovation to a network of third-party builders.

• Liquidity is shared across all interfaces, increasing depth and efficiency as more builders onboard.

Builder Codes are becoming Hyperliquid’s tentacles, stretching and reaching users in multiple ways through 3rd party apps integrating its liquidity. And the best part is these trading volumes funnel right back to Hyperliquid’s ecosystem, solidifying it as the best decentralized liquidity source.

Builder Codes are already starting to drive significant volume to Hyperliquid. With the release of Phantom’s perp product, daily perp volumes from Builder Codes recently reached a peak of $900M.

Source: Flowscan.xyz / Pivot Global

For context, when Builder Code volumes reached $900M in volume on July 22nd, Hyperliquid’s total futures volume was $16.5B. That means Builder Code volumes can already contribute 5.5% of Hyperliquid’s total volumes.

At the moment, the top builder by volume is Insilico with 7D Average Daily Volume (ADV) of $298M, and peak daily volume of $478M. 

Phantom’s Hyperliquid integration was a significant one. In just a few weeks, Phantom has achieved 7D ADV of $184M, and peak daily volume of $245M. This trading volume was generated by ~5,000 average daily users. 

For context, in April 2025, Phantom reportedly had 15M monthly active users. The Phantom integration is just getting started. What happens when more Phantom users realize that they can trade Hyperliquid perps seamlessly in their wallet? What happens if other mobile wallets or fintechs follow suit? Builder Codes have the potential to make an even more significant impact on Hyperliquid trading volumes in the future.

The above volume chart only takes into account the 21 Builders being tracked by Flowscan. According to Hypeburn.fun, there are 185 different teams working with Builder Codes. Now, not all of these will be as significant as Insilico or Phantom - many of these could just be testing or experimenting with ideas. However, we have anecdotally heard of a few big potential apps that are planning to use Hyperliquid Builder Codes that haven’t gone live yet.

Builder Codes are a fundamental distribution layer. They enable Hyperliquid to scale horizontally through external products, lowering CAC, enhancing liquidity, and creating a flywheel of user onboarding, all while reinforcing its backend-first, protocol-as-infrastructure approach to 3rd party distribution.

Considering Builder Codes in addition to upcoming HIP-3, where anyone with 1M HYPE can use Hyperliquid’s infrastructure to deploy their own perp-markets (think equities, RWAs, etc.) and you start to realize:
Hyperliquid’s tentacles are spreading a lot faster than you realize.