Variational vs Hyperliquid
Variational fills each trade at a quoted price, with a 0% trading fee. Hyperliquid runs an order book with a 0.045% base taker fee. Neither requires KYC. Both bar the United States.
Our take: Variational's airdrop is still ahead, and Hyperliquid's is behind it. Omni pays points every week toward $VAR, which Variational says launches in Q4 2026 with 32% of supply going to points holders, while Hyperliquid's HYPE airdrop went out in 2024 and no second one has been announced. Trading works differently too. Hyperliquid matches orders on a public book for a published fee, while on Omni Variational's own market maker quotes and takes every trade, so there is no fee and the spread is the cost. Omni is a private beta that needs an access code, so check the price at your size before trading for points.
Perpetuals on Arbitrum with no trading fee, where Variational's own market maker quotes every trade. Crypto, stocks, commodities, and indexes share one account.
On-chain order-book perpetuals with wallet or email sign-in.
| Criterion | Variational | Hyperliquid |
|---|---|---|
| Fee model | Quote-based | Order book |
| Base fee | 0% per trade | 0.045% taker, 0.015% maker |
| KYC | No KYC | No KYC |
| Restricted countries | United States, Canada, Taiwan, and 13 more | United States and Canada (partly) |
| Leverage | Up to 50x, 20x on TradFi perps | 3x to 40x by asset |
| Markets | 550+ markets: crypto, stocks, commodities, indexes | 100+ crypto perps, HIP-3 stocks and commodities, spot |
| Airdrop | Points, no token yet | HYPE airdrop, Nov 2024 |
| Open interest | $1.02BOne side. DefiLlama, | $7.77BOne side. DefiLlama, |
| 24h volume | $3.69BCoinGecko, | $9.75BCoinGecko, |
| TVL | Not available | $6.82BTotal value locked. DefiLlama, |
Should you use Variational or Hyperliquid?
Our assessment from the published documentation.
When Variational may fit
You want points toward an airdrop that has not happened yet. Variational hands out points every Friday for the previous week's trading and says it will keep going until $VAR launches, when the airdrop is split in proportion to points and fully unlocked. You also want one USDC balance to margin crypto perps, stocks, ETFs, metals, oil, index swaps, and pre-IPO names such as OpenAI and Anthropic, with every market quoted by Variational rather than run by an outside deployer. You would rather see one all-in price for your size than work out a fee tier, and your USDC already sits on Arbitrum.
When Hyperliquid may fit
You want a public order book where anyone can post orders, a fee you can look up by tier, and order types such as TWAP, scale, and trailing stops. You would rather deposit USDC from Ethereum, Base, or Polygon, or send BTC, ETH, or SOL, than bridge USDC to Arbitrum first, or you want to sign in with an email instead of a wallet. You live in Canada outside Ontario, or in Taiwan.
The difference that matters
Who takes the other side. On Hyperliquid your order meets other traders' orders, and the fee for your tier comes on top. On Omni, OLP quotes the price, fills the trade, and earns the spread. It also gets a last look, so it can reject a trade at its risk limits, and a limit order fills in full once the quote crosses your price or not at all. Both can close a winning position in a crisis, through auto-deleveraging on Hyperliquid and counterparty liquidation on Omni when OLP runs short of margin. The risk behind each differs. Hyperliquid's chain is run by a stake-weighted validator set that has delisted a market by vote. Omni keeps your margin in your own settlement pool on Arbitrum, but OLP trades the team's seed capital, and Variational says profits it could not pay would become bad debt. Omni's index and commodity swaps also keep market hours, and nothing processes while a market is closed, stop-losses included.
Our conclusion
Settle eligibility first. Variational excludes all of Canada, where Hyperliquid bars only Ontario, and Taiwan, which Hyperliquid's Terms do not name. Its ban also follows citizenship, so a US or Canadian citizen living abroad is out. If both are open to you, decide how much the airdrop matters. Hyperliquid has no points program, so for a trader chasing a token, Omni is the one of the two still paying out. Volume counts toward points but is not the only factor, and Variational can remove points for inorganic activity, so churning trades pays the spread on every round trip and may earn nothing. Nothing is promised either: the formula is private, the launch has already slipped once, and no date, price, or points-to-token rate is published. Then pick by market. For a major crypto pair, check Omni's quote at your size against Hyperliquid's book price plus your fee. For stocks and commodities, Omni quotes every market itself, while on Hyperliquid you check which HIP-3 deployer runs the market and what it charges.
How Variational and Hyperliquid compare
Every fact links to the page it comes from.
| Criterion | Variational | Hyperliquid |
|---|---|---|
| Fees | 0%Trading fee. Omni perps and swaps, every market Omni, Variational's trading app, charges no maker or taker fee on any market or trade size. Every trade fills at a price quoted by OLP, Variational's own market maker, so the cost of a trade is the spread in that quote, which the order form shows for your size. Deposits and withdrawals cost a flat 0.1 USDC each, and a liquidation closes the position 0.5% past the quote. | 0.045%Taker fee, 0.015% maker. Base tier, standard perpetuals Tier 0 rates for standard perpetuals. Your tier follows 14-day volume, with spot volume counting double, and the staking and referral discounts multiply on top. HIP-3 markets and some quote assets use different rates, so check the fee shown before you confirm. |
| KYC | No KYC You connect an EVM wallet (Rabby, MetaMask, or anything on WalletConnect), enter an access code while Omni is in private beta, accept the Terms, and sign in with a gasless signature. No identity check is asked for to trade, deposit, or withdraw. KYC applies only to some payouts: referral rewards of $4,000 or more from the on-chain trader campaign, and trading competition prizes. The app checks your location by IP and shows a restricted-region notice to visitors from restricted countries. | No KYC There is no identity verification step in the official interface. The Terms require a non-custodial wallet, and the onboarding guide covers wallet or email sign-in, then a deposit. Fiat deposits go through Swapped.com, a separate provider. |
| Country restrictions | 16+ countries restricted The Restricted Persons policy, last updated April 20, 2026, bars the US and its territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the US Minor Outlying Islands), Canada, Taiwan, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Palau, and the Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Sevastopol regions of Ukraine. It also bars US and Canadian persons wherever they live, and the Terms, last updated September 11, 2026, extend the ban to citizens of a restricted country as well as residents. The app applies the list by IP address, and the Terms forbid using a VPN to disguise your location. | 2+ countries restricted The Terms bar the US, Ontario, and any jurisdiction under applicable sanctions or export controls, including citizens of those jurisdictions wherever they live. The sanctioned jurisdictions are not listed. Outcome markets have a separate exclusion list. |
| Leverage | Up to 50x, 20x on TradFi perps Every crypto perpetual allows up to 50x. Perpetuals on stocks, ETFs, commodities, indexes, and pre-IPO companies cap at 20x, and swaps at 10x, with cocoa at 5x. The markets page shows each market's cap. Maintenance margin is half the initial margin at the leverage you pick, so lowering leverage on an open position can move its liquidation price closer. Positions are cross-margined unless you switch a market to isolated, and swaps are isolated only until they trade around the clock. | 3x to 40x by asset Maximum leverage is set per asset, from 3x to 40x, and you can choose any whole number up to the cap. Cross margin is the default, and isolated margin is available. Caps step down on large positions, for example BTC from 40x to 20x above $150M notional and ETH from 25x to 15x above $100M. Maintenance margin is half the initial margin at maximum leverage. |
| Markets | 550+ markets: crypto, stocks, commodities, indexes Omni's public API listed 568 markets on October 12, 2026: 434 crypto perpetuals, 120 perpetuals on stocks, ETFs, commodities, indexes, and the pre-IPO names Anthropic and OpenAI, and 14 swaps. Swaps track gold, silver, oil, gasoline, copper, cocoa, US and Asian equity indexes, the VIX, and the dollar index, with financing tied to traditional rates, and they trade market hours and close on weekends. Perps trade around the clock. There is no order book: market orders fill at the quote, limit orders fill in full once the quote crosses your price, and trigger orders fire on the mark price. Take-profit and stop-loss orders fire on the mark or the quoted price, your choice. Limit orders do not fill partially yet, and open orders expire after 120 days. | 100+ crypto perps, HIP-3 stocks and commodities, spot More than 100 crypto perpetual assets and a spot order book, plus builder-deployed (HIP-3) perpetual markets run by outside teams that set each market's oracle, fees, and leverage. On October 8, 2026 the XYZ deployment alone listed 114 live markets on US and Asian stocks, stock indexes, ETFs, gold, silver, oil, and other commodities, and the euro, yen, and pound, and other deployments add more. The Terms say the interface shows these markets based on onchain activity without reviewing them. Order types: market, limit, stop and take-profit in market or limit form, trailing stop, chase, scale, and TWAP, with reduce-only, post-only, and immediate-or-cancel options. |
| Depositing | USDC on Arbitrum only Collateral is USDC on Arbitrum One, deposited from the wallet you signed up with. The docs name no other route: funds on another chain have to be bridged to Arbitrum first, or withdrawn there from an exchange. Deposits are gasless, so you need no ETH, and each one costs a flat 0.1 USDC. Your USDC sits in an on-chain settlement pool between you and OLP, kept separate from every other trader's pool. | USDC, BTC, ETH, SOL and more The direct route is USDC on Arbitrum, which needs a little ETH for gas. The deposit screen also accepts USDC sent from Ethereum, Base, or Polygon, and BTC, ETH, SOL, AVAX, ZEC, and several other tokens through Unit, an independent team, and you then sell those for USDC on the spot market. Fiat deposits go through Swapped.com, also independent. Trading itself is gas-free. |
| Withdrawing | USDC on Arbitrum, to your own wallet Withdrawals send USDC on Arbitrum back to the wallet connected to your account, the only destination allowed. They are gasless and cost a flat 0.1 USDC. With positions open, you can withdraw only the balance above your margin requirement. | $1 fee, about 5 minutes Withdrawing USDC to Arbitrum costs a flat $1, charged in USDC, and takes about five minutes. Validators sign the transfer, so you pay no Arbitrum gas. Other chains and assets use separate routes, and the withdrawal screen shows any gas fee before you confirm. Use Withdraw, not Send: Send only moves funds to another Hyperliquid account. |
| Airdrop | Points, no token yet Variational has no token yet. It says $VAR launches in Q4 2026 with 32% of supply airdropped to points holders in proportion to their points, all of it unlocked at launch. Points are earned by trading on Omni and go out weekly until the launch. No date, token price, or points-to-token rate has been published. An account needs at least 1 point and must sign the $VAR terms to receive tokens, and the Terms let Variational change or withhold points at its discretion. Variational says it will use all revenue sent to its treasury to buy back and burn $VAR. | HYPE airdrop, Nov 2024 Hyperliquid airdropped 310M HYPE, 31% of supply, at its genesis event on November 29, 2024, to about 94,000 addresses that had earned points by trading. Decrypt valued it at over $1.6B at the launch-day peak. There is no points program now, and no second airdrop has been announced. The Hyper Foundation holds 38.888% of supply for future emissions and community rewards, which also pays staking rewards. |
| Referral program | Access code to sign up During the private beta, an existing trader's referral code is the access code a new account needs. A referral link carries the code in the address, and the app picks it up for the access-code step after you connect a wallet. The referrer earns 5% of the spread their referrals pay, in USDC, and 1 point for every 10 points their referrals earn. Traders unlock a first referral code at $1M in volume and one more slot for each $1M after that, and the app rejects invalid or expired codes. A campaign running since August 12, 2026 also gives points to 10,000 listed on-chain trader addresses that sign up with a code and reach volume milestones. | 4% fee discount Joining through a referral link, or entering a code on the Referrals page, gives a 4% fee discount on your first $25M of volume, excluding vaults and sub-accounts. The referrer receives 10% of your fees, less that discount, on your first $1B of volume. |
| Platform | Web app, installs on phones Omni runs in the browser at omni.variational.io and is built for mobile browsers too. Variational publishes no native app and says none is needed: on a phone you can add Omni to the home screen as a web app, then link it to a signed-in desktop session with a QR code instead of connecting a wallet on the phone. A read-only API serves market data, and the trading API is not available yet. | Web, plus third-party mobile apps The official interface is the website. The onboarding guide lists third-party apps with iOS and Android builds (Based, Dexari, MetaMask, and Phantom) and a QR code flow that links a phone to a desktop wallet extension. |
Rates apply to the accounts and markets in each scope, before discounts. Funding, execution, and transfer costs are separate. A country missing from a restriction list is not confirmed eligible.
Questions about Variational and Hyperliquid
Is Variational or Hyperliquid cheaper?
They charge in different ways, so the headline rates do not line up. Funding, execution, and transfer costs are separate.
Variational: The trading fee is 0%, and each trade fills at a quoted price that includes a spread. Omni, Variational's trading app, charges no maker or taker fee on any market or trade size. Every trade fills at a price quoted by OLP, Variational's own market maker, so the cost of a trade is the spread in that quote, which the order form shows for your size. Deposits and withdrawals cost a flat 0.1 USDC each, and a liquidation closes the position 0.5% past the quote.
Hyperliquid: Base perpetual fees are 0.045% taker and 0.015% maker. Tier 0 rates for standard perpetuals. Your tier follows 14-day volume, with spot volume counting double, and the staking and referral discounts multiply on top. HIP-3 markets and some quote assets use different rates, so check the fee shown before you confirm.
Do Variational and Hyperliquid require KYC?
Neither requires KYC.
Variational: You connect an EVM wallet (Rabby, MetaMask, or anything on WalletConnect), enter an access code while Omni is in private beta, accept the Terms, and sign in with a gasless signature. No identity check is asked for to trade, deposit, or withdraw. KYC applies only to some payouts: referral rewards of $4,000 or more from the on-chain trader campaign, and trading competition prizes. The app checks your location by IP and shows a restricted-region notice to visitors from restricted countries.
Hyperliquid: There is no identity verification step in the official interface. The Terms require a non-custodial wallet, and the onboarding guide covers wallet or email sign-in, then a deposit. Fiat deposits go through Swapped.com, a separate provider.
Can I use Variational or Hyperliquid in the US?
No. Both name the US as restricted.
Variational: The Restricted Persons policy, last updated April 20, 2026, bars the US and its territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the US Minor Outlying Islands), Canada, Taiwan, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Palau, and the Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Sevastopol regions of Ukraine. It also bars US and Canadian persons wherever they live, and the Terms, last updated September 11, 2026, extend the ban to citizens of a restricted country as well as residents. The app applies the list by IP address, and the Terms forbid using a VPN to disguise your location.
Hyperliquid: The Terms bar the US, Ontario, and any jurisdiction under applicable sanctions or export controls, including citizens of those jurisdictions wherever they live. The sanctioned jurisdictions are not listed. Outcome markets have a separate exclusion list.
What leverage do Variational and Hyperliquid offer?
Variational: Every crypto perpetual allows up to 50x. Perpetuals on stocks, ETFs, commodities, indexes, and pre-IPO companies cap at 20x, and swaps at 10x, with cocoa at 5x. The markets page shows each market's cap. Maintenance margin is half the initial margin at the leverage you pick, so lowering leverage on an open position can move its liquidation price closer. Positions are cross-margined unless you switch a market to isolated, and swaps are isolated only until they trade around the clock.
Hyperliquid: Maximum leverage is set per asset, from 3x to 40x, and you can choose any whole number up to the cap. Cross margin is the default, and isolated margin is available. Caps step down on large positions, for example BTC from 40x to 20x above $150M notional and ETH from 25x to 15x above $100M. Maintenance margin is half the initial margin at maximum leverage.
What can I trade on Variational and Hyperliquid?
Variational: Omni's public API listed 568 markets on October 12, 2026: 434 crypto perpetuals, 120 perpetuals on stocks, ETFs, commodities, indexes, and the pre-IPO names Anthropic and OpenAI, and 14 swaps. Swaps track gold, silver, oil, gasoline, copper, cocoa, US and Asian equity indexes, the VIX, and the dollar index, with financing tied to traditional rates, and they trade market hours and close on weekends. Perps trade around the clock. There is no order book: market orders fill at the quote, limit orders fill in full once the quote crosses your price, and trigger orders fire on the mark price. Take-profit and stop-loss orders fire on the mark or the quoted price, your choice. Limit orders do not fill partially yet, and open orders expire after 120 days.
Hyperliquid: More than 100 crypto perpetual assets and a spot order book, plus builder-deployed (HIP-3) perpetual markets run by outside teams that set each market's oracle, fees, and leverage. On October 8, 2026 the XYZ deployment alone listed 114 live markets on US and Asian stocks, stock indexes, ETFs, gold, silver, oil, and other commodities, and the euro, yen, and pound, and other deployments add more. The Terms say the interface shows these markets based on onchain activity without reviewing them. Order types: market, limit, stop and take-profit in market or limit form, trailing stop, chase, scale, and TWAP, with reduce-only, post-only, and immediate-or-cancel options.
Do Variational and Hyperliquid have airdrops?
Variational: Variational has no token yet. It says $VAR launches in Q4 2026 with 32% of supply airdropped to points holders in proportion to their points, all of it unlocked at launch. Points are earned by trading on Omni and go out weekly until the launch. No date, token price, or points-to-token rate has been published. An account needs at least 1 point and must sign the $VAR terms to receive tokens, and the Terms let Variational change or withhold points at its discretion. Variational says it will use all revenue sent to its treasury to buy back and burn $VAR.
Hyperliquid: Hyperliquid airdropped 310M HYPE, 31% of supply, at its genesis event on November 29, 2024, to about 94,000 addresses that had earned points by trading. Decrypt valued it at over $1.6B at the launch-day peak. There is no points program now, and no second airdrop has been announced. The Hyper Foundation holds 38.888% of supply for future emissions and community rewards, which also pays staking rewards.
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