In brief
- The startup beat out Paxos, Ethena, and others, with validators and prediction markets pushing odds to above 90% before the vote.
- Native Markets’ proposal splits reserve yield between Hyperliquid’s Assistance Fund and growth, with reserves managed via Bridge, BlackRock, and Superstate.
- The next test for USDH would be whether it could break the dominance of USDC and USDT, Decrypt was told.
Native Markets was awarded the USDH stablecoin ticker on Sunday, following a governance vote among Hyperliquid validators.
The newly formed firm edged out established bidders after prediction markets and validator commitments swung heavily in its favor, capping one of the most closely watched governance decisions in crypto this year.
Ethena, once considered a strong challenger, withdrew from the race on Thursday. The firm cited feedback from validators and community members questioning whether its proposal, anchored in its existing non-native infrastructure, met the spirit of the competition.
Its exit further pushed prediction odds on Myriad for Native Markets above 90% and effectively cleared the path, with Paxos left trailing despite revising its proposal midweek.
Disclosure: Myriad Markets is owned by Decrypt’s parent company Dastan.
Despite the broad concurrence, the voting process drew criticism.
Observers argued the compressed request-for-proposals timeline, combined with validator ties to existing Hyperliquid infrastructure, tilted the playing field in favor of Native Markets.
Max Fiege, founder of Native Markets, outlined a phased rollout in a statement on Sunday.
The first step will be the introduction of a Hyperliquid Improvement Proposal, after which mints and redeems of USDH will begin in a controlled trial.
Early participants will be capped at about $800 per transaction to stress-test the system. Once initial checks are complete, the USDH/USDC spot order book will open on Hyperliquid, followed by full minting and redemption functionality for all users.
With Native Market securing the USDH ticker, the closely watched governance vote “cements Hyperliquid as a fast-growing ecosystem” but also shows the “intensifying stablecoin competition,” Vincent Liu, chief investment officer at Kronos Research, told Decrypt.
Governance-led moves and fresh liquidity being poured into Hyperliquid show that “stablecoins remain central to crypto’s next phase of global adoption,” Liu added.
Native Markets had been the frontrunner throughout the contest. Its proposal emphasized a native alignment with Hyperliquid: cash reserves and U.S. Treasuries managed by BlackRock off-chain.
Tokenized reserves, meanwhile, will be handled on-chain by Superstate through Bridge, Stripe’s stablecoin infrastructure provider.
The team also pledged to split all reserve yield equally between Hyperliquid’s Assistance Fund and ecosystem growth.
Backers include operators and investors with track records at Uniswap Labs, Paradigm, and Polychain. These elements, combined with early validator endorsements from groups such as CMI Trading, gave Native Markets a decisive advantage.
Still, USDH’s biggest test will be “breaking through the dominance of USDC and USDT, where adoption and liquidity remain king,” Liu noted.
“Transparency around reserves and strong, unified governance will be vital to win lasting trust,” with its future prospects highly dependent “on proving it can compete while maintaining stability,” he added.
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