USDH and aligned quote assets

Every market needs a unit of account. When you buy HYPE on the HYPE/USDC book, HYPE is the base asset and USDC is the quote asset: the currency prices are written in and profits are paid in. On HIP-3 perp markets, the equivalent is the collateral asset you post as margin.

For most of Hyperliquid’s history that was simply USDC. As stablecoins learned they could earn interest on their reserves, a bigger question arrived: if a stablecoin uses Hyperliquid’s liquidity to grow, who keeps the interest? Hyperliquid’s answer is the aligned quote asset framework.

Who quotes what (4 November 2026)

From the Hyperliquid info API (spotMeta, 07:27 UTC), across 349 spot pairs:

Quote asset	Spot pairs	Notes
USDC	332	Native Circle USDC; collateral for core perps and the live HIP-3 dexes (xyz, io, para, mkts)
USDH	11	Native Markets’ stablecoin, being wound down
USDT0	5	Tether’s omnichain USDT; collateral for the delisted dreamcash dex
USDe	1	Ethena’s synthetic dollar; collateral for the delisted HyENA dex

USDC dominates. Every HIP-3 dex that used a non-USDC collateral showed all of its markets delisted on 4 November.

Level 1: becoming a quote asset at all

Anyone can make a token a spot quote asset, if it meets the permissionless rules in Hyperliquid’s docs:

• 8 wei decimals and 2 size decimals, and zero deployer fee share.
• 200,000 HYPE staked by the deployer, committed for 3 years and slashable by validator vote.
• A working $1 peg: at least 100,000 USDC of depth each side of the QUOTE/USDC book between $0.998 and $1.002, and 1M each side between $0.99 and $1.01.
• A liquid HYPE/QUOTE book: 50,000 of depth each side within a 0.5% spread.

If any condition fails for most of a three-day window, the stake becomes slashable. USDC and USDT are exempt because of their track record.

Level 2: aligned quote assets

AQAv1 is the original deal. The issuer stakes another 800,000 HYPE (1M total), sends 50% of an onchain reference rate of its reserve yield to the protocol, mints its full supply on HyperEVM first, and must be an independent team dedicated to Hyperliquid. In return, pairs quoted in it get 20% lower taker fees, 50% larger maker rebates and 20% more credit toward fee tiers.

AQAv2 extends alignment to stablecoins that also live on other chains:

• About 90% of cost-adjusted reserve yield on the Hyperliquid supply flows to the protocol, deducted automatically and sent to the Assistance Fund 8 days after each 30-day interval.
• Two roles: a treasury deployer (shares the yield) and a technical deployer (keeps mint, redemption and bridging reliable). Each stakes 500,000 HYPE and must give 6 months’ notice before stopping.
• There is no trading-fee benefit, but the docs say AQAv2 will become a requirement for quote assets on HIP-4 outcome markets and validator-operated perps in a future upgrade.

USDH: from winning bid to wind-down

In September 2025 Hyperliquid’s validators chose Native Markets to issue a Hyperliquid-native dollar under the USDH ticker, and the token went live that month (the API records deployment on 15 September 2025). USDH became the collateral for several HIP-3 dexes.

On 14 May 2026, Coinbase announced it would become the official treasury deployer of USDC as an aligned quote asset on Hyperliquid, with Circle as technical deployer. As part of that, Native Markets agreed terms giving Coinbase the right to buy the USDH brand assets. Coinbase’s announcement says USDH markets stay functional but will sunset over time, and that users can redeem USDH for USDC or fiat without fees through Native Markets’ dashboard.

Why it matters to you

• Hold USDC unless you have a reason not to. It quotes almost every market and is the collateral for nearly all live perps.
• If you still hold USDH, plan your exit. Use Native Markets’ redemption route rather than a thin order book.
• Aligned stablecoins are why some pairs are cheaper. AQAv1 pairs carry lower taker fees.
• Stablecoin yield now funds HYPE buybacks. That’s a revenue line that doesn’t depend on trading volume.

What can go wrong