Native Markets has officially claimed the ticker for USDH, the upcoming US dollar stablecoin on Hyperliquid, after winning the community vote on Sunday. The decision comes after weeks of speculation, intense debates, and claims of favoritism in the process of selection.
According to Native Markets Founder Max Fiege, the team will soon deploy the first-ever Hyperliquid Improvement Proposal (HIP) for USDH, alongside an ERC-20 token on Ethereum.
The initial rollout will begin with a testing phase, where users can mint and redeem up to $800 per transaction. Once testing ends, Hyperliquid will launch the USDH/USDC spot order book and allow unlimited mints and redeems.
A Controversial Bidding War
Native Markets’ chances of winning the USDH ticker spiked to 99% on prediction platform Polymarket after rival Ethena pulled out on Thursday. The race was closely watched by the crypto community, with many criticizing the process.
Dragonfly partner Haseeb Qureshi called the request-for-proposal (RFP) “a farce,” suggesting validators had no real interest in considering bids outside Native Markets. Rumors of a “backroom deal” sparked further doubts about the fairness of the vote.
Stablecoins Becoming Commodities?
Helius CEO Mert Mumtaz said the USDH battle highlighted how stablecoins are turning into commodities. He predicted that exchanges may eventually simplify user experience by showing just “USD,” while handling stablecoin swaps behind the scenes.
As per CoinMarketCap, at the time of writing, HYPE was priced at $54.19, up nearly 11% from last week. Its market cap stands at $18.10 billion, with a 24-hour trading volume of $239 million.
The USDH launch marks a key moment for Hyperliquid but also raises big questions about transparency and the future of stablecoins.