Hyperliquid co-founder Jeff Yan: Self-custody and transparency are the true advantages of on-chain finance

The co-founder of the decentralized perpetual contract trading platform Hyperliquid, Jeff Yan, stated during a fireside chat at the Korea Blockchain Week 2026 that around-the-clock trading is not the essential difference between on-chain trading venues and traditional exchanges. He pointed out that cryptocurrencies do not need to adhere to traditional market opening hours because these assets inherently possess international attributes, and some traditional exchanges have already begun to actively extend their trading hours.

Yan emphasized that the more enduring value of on-chain finance comes from allowing users to maintain control and custody of their funds, which helps to avoid a common single point of failure risk. In his view, once a counterparty, intermediary, or even custodian encounters issues, the ability to self-custody becomes particularly crucial. Additionally, transparency constitutes another distinct feature of on-chain trading; although it does not have strong appeal in serving ordinary consumers, it is indispensable for building trust in the entire system, because in a system controlled solely by a private organization, users cannot obtain the same level of trust and neutrality guarantees.

He also mentioned that for assets lacking publicly available prices during the closure of traditional exchanges, continuous trading remains necessary, citing commodities, stocks, and Pre-IPO targets that have already been traded on Hyperliquid before the reference market opens as examples to illustrate that the demand truly exists.