Hypercall, an options trading platform built on Hyperliquid, says S&P 500 contracts have generated more than 80% of its $640 million in notional trading volume since its launch in June. The figures point to rising demand among crypto traders for access to traditional financial markets through blockchain-based platforms.
The S&P 500 options market handles trillions of dollars in notional activity daily. Hypercall is tapping into that market by allowing users to trade index options outside the operating hours of traditional exchanges.
Since going live in June, the platform has recorded $640 million in notional volume, with S&P 500 options accounting for over 80% of activity, the company told CoinDesk. Its total open interest stands at approximately $49 million, including around $47 million in S&P 500 contracts.
Although Hypercall’s activity remains small compared with traditional financial markets and established crypto options venue Deribit, the figures reflect growing interest in trading instruments around the clock. Deribit, which launched in 2016, regularly records billions of dollars in daily volume and open interest. Hypercall supports daily, weekly and monthly expirations, including contracts available over weekends.
Founder Jake Sylvestre said traders are primarily choosing options that expire the following day. These contracts allow participants to speculate on short-term price movements or maintain positions with longer expiration periods.
Crypto traders are increasingly using blockchain-based exchanges to gain exposure to traditional assets and derivatives. Hyperliquid has emerged as a popular venue for perpetual futures trading and risk management, particularly during weekends when conventional markets are closed and geopolitical events can cause sudden price swings.
Continuous trading attracts demand
Hypercall brings options trading to the Hyperliquid ecosystem, which is already known for perpetual futures. Options are derivatives that provide a payoff based on an asset’s price relative to a predetermined strike price at expiration. Call options benefit when the asset finishes above the strike, while put options benefit when it finishes below. Traders use them to hedge exposure or take positions on market direction, volatility and time.
Each Hypercall contract has a $1 multiplier, so every index point equals $1 at settlement. For example, a call option with a 7,000 strike would pay $100 if the index settled at 7,100.
The contracts settle in USDC, a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar. Settlement is based on the average price of Hyperliquid’s S&P 500 perpetual futures during the final 30 minutes.
Sylvestre said Hyperliquid offers traders an effective way to access these markets when traditional exchanges are closed. The ability to trade 24 hours a day is particularly useful when economic reports, corporate earnings or geopolitical developments affect prices outside normal market hours.
Hypercall’s market makers hedge their positions through Hyperliquid perpetual futures, including on weekends when cash equity markets are unavailable. They must continue pricing potential market movements around the clock, Sylvestre said.
The company does not view itself as a replacement for Deribit, the leading crypto options venue owned by Coinbase Global. Deribit primarily offers options on Bitcoin and Ether, while Hypercall focuses on markets beyond those assets.
Sylvestre said Hypercall’s users are generally accessing markets that Deribit does not list rather than switching away from the established platform.
Two market-making firms are currently active on Hypercall, with three more in the process of joining. The company has not yet disclosed their identities but expects to announce them in the coming weeks.
User collateral is held onchain, while the order-matching process operates offchain. Some margining and liquidation functions are also handled offchain.
Single-stock options expand the offering
Hypercall’s activity extends beyond the S&P 500. Options tied to SpaceX, Nvidia, Micron Technology and SanDisk account for more than half of all trades on the platform. Other popular markets include Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Alibaba, Ether and Bitcoin.
Sylvestre said the range of individual stocks is a key part of the platform’s market offering.
Other crypto exchanges are also moving into equity-linked derivatives. Bybit launched 24-hour trading for options on stock perpetuals on Sept. 17, initially covering SpaceX and Nvidia. Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading value, offers options linked to more than 1,000 U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds to eligible users outside the United States.
The trend highlights how cryptocurrency platforms are expanding beyond digital assets to provide access to traditional financial instruments, with continuous trading emerging as a major selling point.
