Circle’s Next Step: Hyperliquid (HYPE) Integration As The Catalyst For Real Supply-Share Gain

Bankless has been looking past the usual “partnership announcement” narrative and instead focused on what the new Hyperliquid (HYPE), Coinbase (COIN), and Circle (CRCL) deal could realistically change for USDC.

In its latest write-up, the outlet argues the collaboration is more than public relations, especially at a time when stablecoin momentum has started to pick up but the deeper numbers have not shifted as quickly as some investors might expect.

Bankless frames USDC’s moment as meaningful, but also incomplete—while positioning Hyperliquid as the missing platform that could help Circle’s stablecoin translate momentum into real market share.

In the plan, Coinbase treats USDC as an Aligned Quote Asset (AQA), while Hyperliquid’s USDH token is expected to be phased out gradually. 

Bankless says that with this latest move, improvements are concrete: a significantly better revenue split—roughly double what Hyperliquid was earning with USDH—plus additional regulatory and institutional “firepower” that comes from aligning with what it describes as crypto’s largest voice in Washington, D.C. 

Bankless adds that USDC is predominantly used in Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 markets, the segment that has driven much of Hyperliquid’s visibility over roughly the past six months.

It presents Hyperliquid as the fix for that mismatch—an added distribution channel that could allow stablecoin growth to compound rather than merely coexist with the existing dominant currency dynamic.

A year later, USDT sits at 67.3% and USDC at 28.1%. It notes that USDC transaction volume is accelerating, but the structural picture remains basically unchanged, which it describes as the central problem. The report argues that this is happening for a reason. USDC is strongest in the United States, but competition is concentrating precisely there. 

Outside the US, the report says, USDT still functions as the default dollar for saving, investing, and trading—meaning USDC faces a tougher environment when it comes to establishing base currency status across global trading venues.

On Binance, Bankless notes, USDT is the standard against which many of the biggest markets trade. In practice, that means traders are frequently transacting against USDT, which strengthens USDT’s supply, liquidity, deposits, withdrawals, and on-chain activity.

Hyperliquid, in Bankless’s telling, offers USDC a way to fight that cycle. The report includes a set of market indicators meant to show that Hyperliquid’s share in the perp ecosystem isn’t theoretical. 

While Hyperliquid is still smaller than Binance overall, Bankless suggests the direction is clear—toward perpetuals becoming an environment where USDC can gain more consistent exposure.

The conclusion is that Coinbase and Circle can let Hyperliquid carry the reach while USDC benefits from being the stablecoin underneath the trading activity.

Featured image created with OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com