Hyperliquid opens HIP-4 prediction markets to any builder willing to stake 500,000 HYPE, marking the protocol’s next step toward permissionless outcome trading.
The upgrade will first appear on testnet before reaching mainnet after further testing. The staged release gives validators and builders time to assess contract deployment, oracle handling, and settlement behavior before permissionless markets become available more broadly across the production exchange.
HIP-4 initially launched on mainnet on May 2 with a limited group of approved markets. Under the new phase, eligible builders can deploy event contracts without direct approval from the Hyperliquid team. Those contracts use the same deployment slot assigned to builder-operated decentralized exchanges.
The required HYPE stake can be slashed and burned when validators identify oracle manipulation or an invalid settlement attempt. Builders can choose the events, operate the oracle process, and retain up to half of the trading fees generated by their markets. Hyperliquid provides the matching engine and access to its existing liquidity.
Permissionless HIP-4 Markets Move Beyond Curated Listings
Before this expansion, Hyperliquid selected each outcome market individually. The first product was a daily Bitcoin price binary market operated by Outcomexyz. The permissionless framework now allows qualified builders to create new event contracts directly.
The structure removes the need for every market to pass through a central listing process. At the same time, the staking requirement creates financial exposure for builders that submit false data or attempt to interfere with settlement.
Onchain Settlement Uses Hyperliquid Validators
HIP-4 settles contracts onchain through Hyperliquid’s validator set and objective reference sources. No token vote determines the final result. Validators publish the outcome, after which each contract settles at either zero or one.
The model differs from Polymarket’s use of UMA’s optimistic oracle for disputed outcomes. The article notes that this approach faced several controversies during the year, including a market worth about $60 million that settled against documented facts.
Kalshi avoids decentralized dispute voting through its centralized, CFTC-regulated structure. However, that system leaves market approval with a central operator. Kalshi’s head of crypto also co-authored the HIP-4 proposal.
Unified Margin Connects Event Contracts and Perpetuals
HIP-4 positions sit inside the same account as a trader’s perpetual and spot holdings. All positions draw from shared collateral and contribute to one margin balance.
This setup allows a trader to hold a long Ether perpetual position while purchasing a downside event contract as a hedge, without transferring funds between platforms.
New HIP-4 markets also open within Hyperliquid’s existing trading environment. The platform serves about 1.4 million users and processes roughly $5 billion to $6 billion in daily perpetual volume. As a result, builders launch markets into an active exchange rather than starting with an empty order book.
