Data & Insights: Hyperliquid and Robinhood Crypto Trend Up

CEXs Shaking. Hyperliquid.

• The ratio of perpetual trading volumes on Hyperliquid against Binance for the month of April 2025 stood at 9.76%, its highest ever figure.
  • April’s ratio surpassed its previous high of 9.48% set in February 2025.
• Hyperliquid saw ~$187.6 billion worth of perpetual trading volume in April, which is up 6% month-over-month (MoM)
  • For what it's worth, it is also 0.05% higher than February’s totals.
  • However, despite the notable increase last month, April’s totals are still 5.2% less than its record monthly total of ~$197.9 billion in January 2025.
• On the other hand, Binance saw $1.92 trillion worth of perpetual trading volume in April, which is notably down 1% MoM.
  • April’s total is also still down over 37% since its record high of $3.06 trillion set in December 2024.
• Hyperliquid’s incremental market-share growth relative to Binance, now approaching 10% compared to just over 2% a year ago, demonstrates a slow but steady erosion of the latter’s dominance.
  • This is emblematic of a larger trend where, as DeFi interfaces match CeFi reliability, traders’ allegiance will shift toward platforms that best blend ease of use and execution quality.
• Hyperliquid’s token, HYPE, currently stands at a $6.7 billion market cap, with a fully diluted valuation (FDV) of $20 billion.
  • In terms of price performance, the HYPE token is down 16% year-to-date (YTD). 
  • Meanwhile, Binance’s token, BNB, is similarly down 15% YTD.
  • However, the BNB token stands at an $87 billion market cap, in which its valuation has been fully diluted as well.

Robincoin

• Robinhood released their latest financial reports last week, revealing the $46.1 billion worth of crypto volume the platform facilitated in Q1 2025.
  • This figure marks a 28% year-over-year (YoY) increase compared to the $36 billion recorded in Q1 2024.
  • However, it also represents a 35% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) decline from the $71 billion in crypto volume seen in Q4 2024.
• Meanwhile, Robinhood generated approximately $252 million in revenue from its crypto operations in Q1 2025
  • Revenue from crypto operations made up over 43% of Robinhood’s total revenue for the quarter.
  • Q1 2025’s crypto revenue has also doubled YoY compared to the $126 million in Q1 2024.
  • It is worth noting that in Q1 2024, crypto revenue made up just 38% of Robinhood’s total quarterly revenue
  • The increased monetization per dollar of volume underscores the increasingly lucrative importance of crypto for the business.
  • If Robinhood can continue scaling revenue at this pace, it may be well-positioned to deepen its identity as a retail-first crypto platform, not just a traditional equity trading app.
• As of the time of writing, Robinhood’s stock, represented by the ticker HOOD, is currently up over 26% YTD.
  • For comparison, Bitcoin is up just 2% YTD, while the S&P 500 is down 3.6% YTD.
  • For added context, HOOD has risen by ~280% since the beginning of 2024, while BTC and the S&P500 rose by 125% and 20%, respectively, over the same period.

Growing Fed Mindshare

• Mentions of the word “cryptocurrency” in SEC filings reached an all-time high of 786 in the month of April 2025 
  • This figure marks a 38% increase from the 569 mentions recorded in March and an 8% YoY rise over the 727 mentions seen in April 2024.
  • For added context, between January 2024 and March 2025, the average monthly number of “cryptocurrency” mentions in SEC filings was 457.
  • This uptick signals that federal agencies are dedicating increased attention and resources to digital assets, likely in anticipation of updated frameworks or forthcoming guidance from the SEC.
  • The hope is that this growing regulatory engagement will ultimately lead to clear and consistent rules, fostering long-term industry growth and strengthening institutional confidence.
• Interestingly, the word “stablecoins” has also seen a surge in attention within SEC filings, particularly over the last 3 months
  • Between January 2024 and January 2025, mentions of “stablecoins” averaged just 48 per month.
  • However, from February to April 2025, that figure more than doubled, averaging 103 mentions per month.
  • In detail, there were 81 mentions in February, 124 in March and 104 in April.
  • This rise in stablecoin-related mentions underscores how regulators are increasingly focused on ensuring sound reserve backing and stronger consumer protection measures.
  • If formalized, these efforts could significantly boost trust in stablecoins, paving the way for broader enterprise and retail adoption.
• All in all, crypto has begun its transition from a niche asset to a core line item in corporate risk management and investor relations, reinforcing its growing legitimacy across institutional and regulatory arenas.

ETH Layer 1 Data Fees Increasing

• The percentage of Ethereum fees spent on L1 data fees rose to 3.7% in April 2025, marking the highest point since blob implementation and a reversal from September 2024's low of 0.63%.
  • This increase reflects a shift in blob economics as rollup activity increases the fees paid to ther layer-1.
  • Another potential factor is onchain activity migrating from Ethereum layer-1 to the layer-2s. This would explain a lower total fee paid but a higher percentage of total fees. 
• Blobs were introduced via EIP-4844 and represent a specialized data storage mechanism designed to address a critical scaling bottleneck for Ethereum.
  • Prior to blobs, Layer 2 rollups had to post their transaction data directly to Ethereum using regular calldata, competing with standard transactions for precious blockspace. 
  • Blobs create a separate, temporary data availability layer specifically for rollups, with data that expires after approximately two weeks.
  • This innovation dramatically reduced costs for L2s while maintaining Ethereum's security guarantees, initially dropping data fees by over 90%.
  • While initial uptake was slower, late 2024 saw blobspace spike in data fees paid to Ethereum by layer-2s as onchain activity picked up, signaling the end of the initial free blob era.
• Work on Ethereum and blobs continues to happen as new upgrades are scheduled as early as this week. 
  • The upcoming Pectra/Fulu upgrades in May will prioritize a blob throughput increase to address growing demand.

SUIII

• Sui has emerged as the standout performer among major Layer 1 blockchains, posting an impressive 200% gain over the past 12 months and dramatically outpacing established networks in the industry.
  • This performance shadows the more modest 50% gains seen by second and third-place finishers ADA and BTC, highlighting potential market preferences toward newer speculative projects, similar to Solana’s outperformance throughout 2023.
  • While Bitcoin and Ethereum in particular struggled to maintain momentum through 2024's latter half, Sui's trajectory remained decidedly upward.
• The network's price appreciation is compounded with onchain ecosystem growth, with DeFi TVL expanding from $570M to $1.75B over the past year, a threefold increase.
  • This TVL growth through protocols like Suilend provides some fundamental support for the tokens price appreciation.
  • The World Liberty Financial partnership announced in March 2025 added institutional credibility, particularly with SUI's integration into WLF's Macro Strategy Fund and discussions of a potential Sui ETF.
• Highly speculative Pokemon NFT integration rumors have also recently amplified Sui's price momentum, despite lacking official confirmation.
  Traders have been aggressively positioning based on reports that Pokemon HOME might utilize Sui for NFT functionality.