Native Markets Wins Hyperliquid’s USDH Stablecoin Ticker After Heated Bidding War

Native Markets has officially secured the coveted USDH ticker for Hyperliquid’s upcoming U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, following a tense community vote that gripped the crypto industry.

• The first Hyperliquid Improvement Proposal (HIP) for USDH and an ERC-20 token will launch soon.
• A testing phase will begin with $800 per-transaction limits before opening the USDH/USDC spot order book.
• Competitor Ethena withdrew, pushing Native Markets’ winning odds to over 99% on Polymarket.
• Industry figures questioned the transparency of the bidding process and discussed stablecoin commoditization.

Native Markets emerged as the winner of Hyperliquid’s inaugural stablecoin ticker race, officially claiming the USDH ticker after a community vote on Sunday. The competition, which had captivated traders and industry watchers for days, came to a dramatic close when Native Markets pulled ahead decisively. Founder Max Fiege announced on X that the team will soon deploy the first Hyperliquid Improvement Proposal (HIP) to launch the USDH stablecoin as both a Hyperliquid asset and an ERC-20 token.

According to Fiege, the rollout will begin with a testing phase that limits mints and redeems to $800 per transaction for an initial group of participants. This careful start is designed to ensure smooth functionality and stability before wider adoption. Once the testing period is complete, the USDH/USDC spot order book will open and the network will allow uncapped mints and redeems, laying the groundwork for full-scale integration into the Hyperliquid exchange.

The road to this victory was anything but quiet. Prediction market data from Polymarket showed Native Markets’ odds of success spiking to over 99% after competitor Ethena unexpectedly withdrew from the race on Thursday. That turn of events left Native Markets as the clear front-runner and set the stage for a decisive community vote. Throughout the process, the bidding war drew intense interest from crypto investors and analysts, who debated the implications for the broader stablecoin ecosystem.

Not everyone was satisfied with how the selection played out. Dragonfly Managing Partner Haseeb Qureshi criticized the vote as a “farce,” suggesting that validators were never seriously considering any team besides Native Markets. He claimed the process felt predetermined, sparking conversations about transparency and fairness in decentralized governance decisions.

Industry leaders also used the episode to reflect on the evolving nature of stablecoins. Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helius, argued that the race illustrates how stablecoins are becoming commoditized. He predicted that exchanges may eventually abstract stablecoin tickers altogether, simply displaying a generic “USD” while handling conversions between different dollar-backed assets behind the scenes. This perspective points to a future where end users care less about the specific issuer and more about seamless dollar liquidity.

For Hyperliquid, the successful completion of the first-ever Hyperliquid Improvement Proposal is a milestone, setting a precedent for how future decisions and token launches might unfold on the platform. For Native Markets, securing the USDH ticker represents a significant vote of confidence from the community and positions the team at the forefront of Hyperliquid’s stablecoin strategy.

Final Thought

Native Markets’ victory not only secures the USDH ticker but also highlights the growing scrutiny of decentralized governance and the shifting role of stablecoins in the crypto economy, where trust, efficiency, and user experience are becoming as important as the technology itself.