---
type: source
title: "Hyperliquid Moves to Enter Prediction Markets With Zero-Fee Structure, Challenging Polymarket and Kalshi"
author: "Unchained Crypto"
url: https://unchainedcrypto.com/hyperliquid-moves-to-enter-prediction-markets-with-zero-fee-structure-challenging-polymarket-and-kalshi-unchained/
date: 2026-04-30
domain: internet-finance
secondary_domains: []
format: article
status: unprocessed
priority: medium
tags: [hyperliquid, hip-4, prediction-markets, zero-fee, polymarket, kalshi, outcome-contracts, competitive-dynamics]
intake_tier: research-task
---

## Content

Hyperliquid is preparing to enter the prediction market space through HIP-4, a new "outcome contracts" feature that will directly compete with Polymarket and Kalshi using a zero-fee structure.

**HIP-4 specification:**
- "Outcome contracts" — event-based derivatives, settles 0 or 1 (binary)
- Built on Hyperliquid's L1 infrastructure
- Market design co-authored by Kalshi's head of crypto (John Wang)
- Currently on testnet; mainnet date unconfirmed
- Zero-fee structure (vs. Polymarket's market maker spreads and Kalshi's fees)

**Hyperliquid's competitive advantages:**
- Zero fees (Polymarket/Kalshi charge fees or earn through spreads)
- Large existing user base (concentrated in Asia, outside Polymarket's geoblocking)
- HYPE token ownership gives users economic stake in platform activity
- Robust L1 infrastructure handling $60B+ daily perps volume

**Hyperliquid's constraints:**
- Offshore platform — blocks US users
- No DCM registration — cannot legally serve US prediction market users
- Relies on Kalshi's DCM expertise for market design but not regulatory access

**The competitive three-way structure emerging:**
1. Regulated DCMs (Kalshi + Polymarket US): US users, regulated, fees, sports/elections/crypto
2. Offshore decentralized (Hyperliquid HIP-4): non-US users, zero fees, no DCM registration, sports/elections/crypto
3. On-chain governance markets (MetaDAO): governance decisions only, TWAP settlement, no sports/elections

**Kalshi-Hyperliquid relationship:** Unusual hybrid — Kalshi's market design expertise is being applied to Hyperliquid's offshore platform. They are simultaneously partners (in market design) and competitors (in the global prediction market).

## Agent Notes

**Why this matters:** This source confirms the three-way category split that has been developing across sessions 29-32. The prediction market landscape is now clearly segmented:
- DCM-regulated platforms are moving toward full derivatives exchange status (perps + event contracts + crypto derivatives)
- Offshore decentralized platforms are capturing non-US event contract volume with zero fees and token ownership models
- On-chain governance markets (MetaDAO) are operating in a completely separate functional category with no competitive overlap in the sports/elections space

This three-way split is the foundation for the claim candidate I've been developing since Session 31. The Hyperliquid HIP-4 announcement makes the split structurally explicit — Hyperliquid's outcome contracts are NOT governance markets. They're outcome contracts on external events (sports, elections), just like Kalshi/Polymarket, only offshore and zero-fee.

**What surprised me:** The Kalshi-Hyperliquid co-authorship relationship. Kalshi's Head of Crypto co-authored the HIP-4 spec with Hyperliquid. This is a regulatory arbitrage partnership: Kalshi provides the market design expertise it developed for US regulation, while Hyperliquid provides the offshore infrastructure to capture non-US markets that Kalshi can't access. They're licensing regulatory knowledge to an offshore platform.

**What I expected but didn't find:** Any discussion of how Hyperliquid's prediction market entry affects MetaDAO's governance market positioning. The HIP-4 coverage is entirely focused on the sports/election event contract category — MetaDAO is invisible in this competitive analysis.

**KB connections:**
- [[Ownership alignment turns network effects from extractive to generative]] — HYPE token ownership is being applied as a competitive weapon in prediction markets; if successful, provides evidence for ownership alignment mechanism in marketplace competition
- [[Decision markets make majority theft unprofitable through conditional token arbitrage]] — HIP-4's "outcome contracts" are NOT decision markets (conditional on governance decisions); they're event contracts (conditional on external events). The distinction matters for MetaDAO's unique positioning.
- [[permissionless leverage on metaDAO ecosystem tokens catalyzes trading volume and price discovery that strengthens governance by making futarchy markets more liquid]] — Hyperliquid's perps infrastructure is the model for what leverage on MetaDAO governance tokens could look like

**Extraction hints:**
- Three-way category split claim: "The 2026 prediction market regulatory crisis is accelerating a structural split into three distinct categories: CFTC-registered DCMs becoming full-spectrum derivatives exchanges, offshore decentralized outcome contract platforms (Hyperliquid HIP-4) capturing non-US volume with zero fees, and on-chain governance markets (MetaDAO) operating in a separate functional category without sports/election exposure" [confidence: likely — the split is empirically observable, though MetaDAO's "separate category" status is not yet legally confirmed]
- Kalshi-Hyperliquid co-authorship is worth noting as evidence of regulatory arbitrage through market design licensing — the DCM regulatory infrastructure has economic value outside of regulatory protection itself

**Context:** Hyperliquid is an offshore decentralized exchange that has emerged as one of the most technically sophisticated on-chain derivatives platforms, with $60B+ daily volume in perps. Its entry into prediction markets (HIP-4) with Kalshi's market design expertise represents the offshore alternative to DCM registration. US users are blocked. The competitive threat to Kalshi/Polymarket is primarily in Asian markets where US regulation doesn't apply.

## Curator Notes (structured handoff for extractor)

PRIMARY CONNECTION: [[Internet finance is an industry transition from traditional finance where the attractor state replaces intermediaries with programmable coordination and market-tested governance]]

WHY ARCHIVED: Confirms the three-way category split that structurally differentiates MetaDAO's governance markets from sports/election prediction markets — relevant to multiple regulatory defensibility claims

EXTRACTION HINT: The three-way split (DCM / offshore decentralized / on-chain governance) is the primary claim candidate worth developing from this source and the surrounding session
