The battle for $USDH, Hyperliquid’s native stablecoin, was the most important governance vote in crypto this year. 10+ teams applied, but only a few are real contenders. Here’s AMINA Bank Research’s breakdown of the fight that will define HL’s future.

Why it matters: $USDH isn’t just another stablecoin. The winner shapes Hyperliquid’s liquidity, revenue, and credibility for years. @HyperliquidX is a trading focused L1 that’s valued at $15 billion in marketcap and dominates derivatives trading onchain.

Native Markets Proposal by @fiege_max Strengths: HL-native, community-led, 50% reserves of fees generated → Assistance Fund. Weaknesses: Unlike other issuers in the race, Native Markets don’t have any integrations yet, limiting its global reach. Their proposal was designed

@ethena_labs Proposal USDH will be backed 1:1 by $USDtb via Anchorage + @BlackRock. Strengths: Team has strong $13B USDe track record, 95%+ revenue back to HL, deep liquidity due to USDtb backing. Weaknesses: Centralised compliance dependency as USDtb is backed by

@Paxos Proposal Strengths: PayPal/Venmo $HYPE listing, $20M incentives, unmatched regulatory moat. Weaknesses: Revenue share only begins after $1B TVL, capped at 5%, which some see as less aggressive for scaling. This was the distribution juggernaut, Paxos could plug USDH into

@SkyEcosystem (ex-MakerDAO) Proposal Strengths: $8B USDS, $13B collateral, 7+ years of uptime, $2.2B instant redemption. Weaknesses: Not HL-exclusive as they also issue other stablecoins such as DAI, which has seen slower adoption by the industry. This was battle-tested

@withAUSD Proposal by @Nick_van_Eck Strengths: 100% revenue to HL, $10M upfront liquidity, TradFi-grade reserve managers such as State Street and VanEck (highly trusted and regulated) giving USDH an institutional credibility. Weaknesses: Feels more Wall Street than

@fraxfinance Strengths: Aggressive incentives, Treasury yield passthrough, $5.5B projected deposits. Weaknesses: Governance and trust assumptions. This was risk-on bet. High upside if validators wanted to gamble on growth.

Validators were not choosing between logos. They were choosing HL’s identity: 👉Sovereignty (Native Markets) 👉Liquidity-max (Ethena) 👉Global rails (Paxos) 👉TradFi credibility (Agora, Sky) 👉Risk-on growth (Frax)

With yesterday's vote, history was written #onchain. ⚡ Validators chose sovereignty. Between DeFi-native design and global fintech rails, they backed Native Markets. Next steps: HIP-1 rollout begins with capped $800 mint/redeem testing. Followed by a USDH/USDC spot order book

The bidding was drawing criticism, with some industry voices calling it predetermined. Others argued that stablecoins are becoming commoditized and that users may only see a generic USD ticker while exchanges handle swaps behind the scenes. Still, the decision defined HL’s DNA

Disclaimer: This publication has been prepared by AMINA Bank AG (“AMINA”) in relation to its activities in Switzerland. This communication is intended solely for existing clients of AMINA and is provided for informational purposes only. The products and services described herein

Performing at the highest level under pressure where every second counts. That was the fascinating theme of last week’s exclusive dinner in Zurich, where Julien Simon-Chautemps @julien_sc, former F1 Race Engineer and CEO of JSC7Engineering took the stage! 🏎️💨 The evening