Crypto companies are locked in a fierce competition to win the rights to launch USDH, the new stablecoin that will power Hyperliquid, one of the leading decentralized exchanges in the DeFi landscape.

Hyperliquid, known for its massive trading volumes and dominance in the decentralized derivatives market, recently announced it would open up its coveted USDH ticker for bids. This move broke from the platform’s usual practice of auctioning off tickers, signaling the significance of USDH for its future ecosystem. The foundation behind Hyperliquid invited major crypto and fintech firms to submit proposals, leading to a frenzy reminiscent of a reality TV competition.

The prize is immense: Hyperliquid currently hosts around $5 billion in stablecoins, with the vast majority held in Circle’s USDC. Whoever secures the USDH ticker stands to influence a fundamental layer of DeFi and potentially capture hundreds of millions in revenue from yield generated on the underlying reserves. Stablecoin issuers typically profit from interest earned on assets like U.S. Treasury bills, but Hyperliquid’s contenders are promising to return more of that profit directly to the platform’s community, breaking from Circle’s model of keeping yields for itself.

Heavyweights like Paxos, Stripe-backed ventures, and leading DeFi projects have tossed their hats in the ring. Each is crafting pitches not just around compliance and technical robustness, but around sharing revenue with Hyperliquid’s network—a proposition designed to sway both platform governance and the broader community.

Voting among network validators will ultimately decide which team gets to launch USDH. This governance-first approach is also a test of decentralized decision-making at scale. Whichever project wins the ticker gets to build a new standard for stablecoins on Hyperliquid but will still face the challenge of competing against established giants like USDC for user trust and liquidity.

The outcome of Hyperliquid’s stablecoin race will shape both the platform’s financial ecosystem and set a precedent for future DeFi governance and innovation.