Hyperliquid rolls out HyperCore and HyperEVM linking on mainnet to unify DeFi and CEX features

Hyperliquid launched HyperCore and HyperEVM linking on its mainnet to combine decentralized and centralized exchange features for an improved DeFi development experience, according to a Tuesday announcement.

HyperCore is the backbone behind Hyperliquid’s layer-1 network and high-performance trading ecosystem. HyperEVM – which debuted in February – was designed as a general purpose Ethereum Virtual Machine environment to allow Hyperliquid developers to build EVM-compatible dapps based on the HyperCore system.

The two structures co-existed separately until now. Moving forward, developers can transfer HyperCore spot assets like Hyperliquid’s native token, HYPE, between both systems. Once linked, a builder can use a “spotSend action” or the protocol’s frontend interface to convert tokens across HyperCore and HyperEVM. Developers can also tap the ERC-20 transfer feature on the EVM side.

Hyperliquid’s team advised users to first test out linking and asset conversion on the testnet. “It is strongly recommended to test everything on testnet before linking on mainnet,” the team said, “as linking is immutable.”

GitHub documents shared on March 25 also noted that the system address – the address with first byte 0x20 and the remaining bytes all zeros – may not hold sufficient supply. The team also hasn't released a check system to verify valid ERC-20 recipient contracts. “In particular, the linked contract may have arbitrary bytecode, so it's prudent to verify that its implementation is correct,” Hyperliquid’s GitHub notes.

Hyperliquid’s perp DEX was one of last year’s breakout stories as crypto and DeFi sentiment garnered steam. Initially launched in 2023, the protocol airdropped HYPE tokens worth $1.2 billion at the time last November. The price of HYPE is approximately 53% off from its all-time high of $34.96 set in December 2024, per The Block's price page.