Hyperliquid Leads Crypto Protocols by Revenue as Perpetuals Trading Outpaces Rivals

Hyperliquid has emerged as the highest-earning crypto protocol of 2026 so far, according to data compiled by CoinGecko covering the period from 1 January to 15 September. The decentralised exchange for perpetual futures, which runs on its own Layer-1 blockchain called HyperCore, generated $429 million in revenue during those nine and a half months, putting it ahead of every other protocol tracked in the ranking.

The list excludes major stablecoin issuers and asset managers such as Tether, Circle and Grayscale, focusing instead on protocols and applications that earn fees from trading, lending or other on-chain activity.

Pumpfun placed second with $322 million in revenue over the same period. Axiom Pro followed in third place with $132 million, narrowly ahead of Sky at $130 million and GMGN at $126 million. Polymarket, the prediction market platform, recorded $115 million. World Liberty Financial brought in $95.37 million, while Paxos generated $87.93 million. Rounding out the top ten were edgeX with $84.37 million and Titan Builder with $83.47 million.

A widening lead

Hyperliquid's cumulative lifetime revenue stood between $1.26 billion and $1.31 billion as of mid-September, according to the data. Recent activity suggests the platform's earnings have continued at a steady clip: weekly revenue has hovered around $13.5 million, with daily peaks approaching $3 million. Over a trailing 30-day window, the protocol brought in roughly $64 million, a pace that, if sustained, would put annualised revenue above $700 million for the full year.

Much of that income is not simply retained by the platform. Hyperliquid directs about 99% of eligible perpetual futures trading fees to its Assistance Fund, a mechanism that has also been used to reduce the circulating supply of its native token. As of September, roughly 48.7 million HYPE tokens, approximately 4.9% of total supply, had been removed from circulation through this process.

What the ranking leaves out

Because the CoinGecko ranking strips out stablecoin issuers and large custodial entities, it offers a narrower view focused on protocols whose revenue is tied more directly to trading and transactional activity rather than reserve management or asset custody. That framing places decentralised exchanges, memecoin launch platforms and prediction markets at the top of the table, reflecting where trading volume and fee generation have concentrated so far in 2026.

For European market participants tracking where liquidity and fee revenue are flowing within decentralised finance, the ranking underscores the scale Hyperliquid has reached relative to peers such as Pumpfun and Axiom Pro, even as newer entrants like edgeX and Titan Builder post meaningful revenue figures of their own.