Hyperliquid is publicly testing a plan to add prediction markets to its platform in a direct challenge to Polymarket.

The proposal, known as HIP-4, would allow traders to buy fully collateralized binary contracts on real-world outcomes within the same margin account they use for crypto perpetual futures.

Former Barclays CEO Bob Diamond chairs Hyperliquid Strategies Inc. (NASDAQ:PURR), the largest Nasdaq-listed way to bet on the exchange.

PURR holds more than 17 million HYPE tokens, has filed an S-1 to raise up to $1 billion more, and last closed near $6. Maxim Group initiated coverage on Friday with a Buy rating and a $10 price target.

The HIP-4 proposal was co-authored by John Wang, head of crypto at Kalshi, and the two companies announced a partnership in March to launch on-chain prediction markets together.

That makes Polymarket the company most exposed to a successful HIP-4 rollout.

Both incumbents unveiled perpetual futures within hours of each other on April 21 in dueling announcements.

As the product wars heat up, both platforms are heavily capitalized to defend their turf: Kalshi raised $1 billion at a $22 billion valuation in March, while Polymarket is reportedly raising $400 million at a $15 billion valuation.

On-chain researcher Fleck found that 3.3% of Polymarket users are also active on Hyperliquid, and those overlapping accounts contribute roughly 12% of Polymarket’s total volume.

HIP-4 gives those whales a reason to consolidate in one margin account.

Hyperliquid restricts U.S. users and operates as a decentralized exchange with a lean team.

Polymarket, by contrast, relies on internal staff to propose markets and police insider trading, but offloads dispute resolution to UMA’s optimistic oracle.

Hyperliquid could find it difficult to replicate that balance of oversight and decentralized settlement without bloating its own headcount or sacrificing quality control.

Even with Kalshi’s regulated playbook serving as a crutch, HIP-4 has yet to confirm a mainnet date or full oracle infrastructure.

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