S&P 500 Options Lead Trading Demand on Hyperliquid

Hypercall, an options exchange built on Hyperliquid, has processed $640 million in notional trading volume since its June launch, with S&P 500 options accounting for over 80% of activity. The platform’s growth reflects increasing interest among cryptocurrency traders in accessing traditional financial products through blockchain-based markets.

The S&P 500 options market sees trillions of dollars in notional trading volume each day. Hypercall is targeting this market by providing access to index options around the clock, including during weekends when traditional exchanges are closed.

The company told CoinDesk that its outstanding contracts represent approximately $49 million in open interest, with roughly $47 million tied to S&P 500 options. While these figures are relatively small compared with conventional financial markets and Deribit’s cryptocurrency options business, they point to demand for trading access beyond standard market hours.

Deribit, which began operating in 2016, regularly handles billions of dollars in daily trading volume and open interest. Hypercall, meanwhile, offers options with daily, weekly and monthly expirations, allowing users to trade across different time frames.

Founder Jake Sylvestre said most activity involves contracts expiring the following day. These short-dated options allow traders to position for expected moves in the index, while longer-dated contracts offer opportunities to maintain positions over a wider period.

Crypto traders are increasingly using blockchain-based exchanges to trade traditional assets and derivatives. Hyperliquid has gained traction as a venue for perpetual futures and risk management, especially on weekends and during geopolitical events when conventional exchanges are unavailable.

Around-the-clock trading draws participants

Hypercall expands Hyperliquid’s derivatives ecosystem by introducing options contracts. Calls generally pay off when an asset finishes above a predetermined strike price at expiration, while puts benefit when it finishes below that level. Traders use these contracts to hedge exposure or speculate on price direction, volatility and time.

Each Hypercall contract uses a $1 multiplier, so each index point corresponds to $1 at settlement. A call option with a 7,000 strike, for example, would pay $100 if the index settled at 7,100.

Contracts settle in USDC, a dollar-pegged stablecoin, based on the average price of Hyperliquid’s S&P 500 perpetual futures during the final 30 minutes.

Sylvestre said Hyperliquid has become a key venue for trading these products outside regular exchange hours. Market makers on Hypercall hedge their positions through perpetual futures, including on weekends when cash equity markets are closed. Corporate earnings, economic releases and company announcements can still influence prices during those periods, requiring market makers to update pricing continuously.

Hypercall is not positioning itself as a direct rival to Deribit, the leading cryptocurrency options platform owned by Coinbase Global. Deribit mainly offers Bitcoin and Ether options, while Hypercall focuses on assets and markets not listed there.

Sylvestre said traders are generally using Hypercall to access additional markets rather than leaving Deribit.

Two market-making firms are currently active on the platform, and three more are being onboarded. Hypercall expects to identify the firms publicly in the coming weeks. Customer collateral remains onchain, but order matching is conducted offchain, with some margining and liquidation processes also handled offchain.

Single-stock options expand the selection

Hypercall also offers options linked to individual companies. Contracts tied to SpaceX, Nvidia, Micron Technology and SanDisk account for more than half of all trades, followed by products linked to Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Alibaba, Ether and Bitcoin.

Sylvestre said individual stocks make up a substantial part of the platform’s broader market selection.

Other crypto exchanges are moving into stock-linked derivatives as well. Bybit introduced 24-hour options trading on stock perpetuals on Sept. 17, initially covering SpaceX and Nvidia. Binance offers options tied to more than 1,000 U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds to eligible users outside the United States.

The expansion highlights the growing overlap between cryptocurrency infrastructure and traditional finance, as exchanges seek to provide continuous trading access to a broader range of assets.