Hyperliquid vs Pacifica

Hyperliquid or Pacifica: which to use

Hyperliquid vs Pacifica is a close match on fees and a gap in markets and access. Both are order-book DEXs you trade from a wallet without ID. Hyperliquid charges 1.5 bp maker and 4.5 bp taker, Pacifica 1.5 bp maker and 4 bp taker. Hyperliquid's own book lists 178 crypto markets at up to 40x, with stocks and commodities on HIP-3 exchanges traded from the same wallet; Pacifica lists 77 markets on Solana, 24 of them real-world assets, at up to 50x. Pacifica is closed to more regions. Pick Hyperliquid for the larger list, Pacifica for the lower taker fee on Solana.

How each exchange is built

Both are decentralized exchanges you trade from a self-custody wallet, and both match orders on a central limit order book, where resting bids and asks wait until another trader fills them. Hyperliquid runs on its own chain, Hyperliquid L1, and also accepts an email login. Pacifica runs on Solana.

Hyperliquid lets other teams deploy their own perp exchanges on its chain under HIP-3, traded from the same account. The live ones include tradeXYZ (110 markets), Paragon (29 markets), Entropy (8 markets) and Markets by Kinetiq (5 markets), and most of Hyperliquid's stock and commodity perps are there. Pacifica keeps its crypto and real-world markets on one exchange.

Fees and what they mean

Hyperliquid's base tier is 1.5 bp maker and 4.5 bp taker, per Hyperliquid's fee page. Pacifica's is 1.5 bp maker and 4 bp taker, per Pacifica's fee page.

A market order pays the taker fee to open and again to close: 9 bp per round trip on Hyperliquid, 8 bp on Pacifica. A limit order that rests on the book pays 1.5 bp on both.

With fees this close, slippage decides the cost of a large trade. Slippage, the price you move by eating through the order book, grows with size and depends on each book's depth. The cost table above adds both at each size from $1k to $5M, and every exchange's trading cost is compared on one page.

Markets and leverage

As of 1 October 2026 Hyperliquid's own book lists 178 active perps, all crypto, and its stocks and commodities are on the HIP-3 exchanges above. Pacifica lists 77, 24 of them stocks, commodities, FX or other real-world assets. The list further down this page shows the markets both exchanges have and each one's funding rate.

Pacifica allows up to 50x and Hyperliquid up to 40x on their highest-leverage markets; most markets allow less. Both pay funding every hour, so a position settles funding 24 times a day on either.

Who can use them

Neither asks for ID. Hyperliquid accepts any EVM wallet or an email login and is closed to the US, Ontario and sanctioned countries. Pacifica is closed to the US, Canada, the UK, China, Russia, Ukraine, the Philippines and sanctioned countries.

Vaults, tokens and points

Hyperliquid runs HLP (Hyperliquidity Provider), a vault that makes markets and takes liquidations, so its depositors carry the traders' profit and loss. It takes USDC, locks each deposit for 4 days and charges no fee. Pacifica runs no vault we track.

Hyperliquid's token is $HYPE; Pacifica has no token yet. As of 19 September 2026 Hyperliquid's points program was in Season 2 and Pacifica's was active.

Reading the numbers on this page

Both exchanges publish open interest as longs plus shorts, both sides of every position, so the open interest row and chart above compare like with like. TVL above is DefiLlama's figure for each: Hyperliquid's bridge deposits and Pacifica's own entry.

Which one fits you

• Pick Hyperliquid if you want its crypto book plus the HIP-3 exchanges from one wallet.
• Pick Hyperliquid if you want a vault to deposit in, or an email login.
• Pick Hyperliquid if you are in Canada, the UK, China, Ukraine or the Philippines, where Pacifica is closed.
• Pick Pacifica if you trade with market orders: 4 bp taker against 4.5 bp.
• Pick Pacifica if you need up to 50x, on the markets that offer it.
• Pick Pacifica if you want to trade perps on Solana.