How Paradex and Hyperliquid differ on chain, volume, fees and model.
| Paradex | Hyperliquid | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Private perp (Starknet) | Perp L1 (own chain) |
| Chain | Starknet appchain | Hyperliquid L1 |
| How it works | A Starknet appchain incubated by Paradigm, offering zero trading fees and — uniquely — confidential positions, targeting institutional traders who don’t want their book public. | A purpose-built Layer 1 (HyperBFT consensus) running a fully transparent on-chain CLOB with sub-second matching. 180+ perp markets plus spot HIP-1 tokens; taker 0.035% with maker rebates. |
| Scale* | ~$30B · zero-fee | ~$248B/mo · #1 |
| Max leverage | high | up to 40x |
| Best for | Private, zero-fee institutional perps | The deepest, fastest on-chain perps |
Pick Paradex for private, zero-fee institutional perps; pick Hyperliquid for the deepest, fastest on-chain perps.
* Volume/TVL = dated snapshot (DefiLlama + venue reports, 2026).