Wintermute-Linked Wallet Won About 76% of Hyperliquid’s Highest-Priority Auctions

A wallet linked to Wintermute won about 76% of Hyperliquid’s highest-priority data auctions over the past month, taking most of the slots that provide an early view of incoming orders.

Traders pay for access to buy and sell orders before Hyperliquid processes them. The few-millisecond lead gives trading algorithms time to adjust quotes or hedge on other venues.

Anyone can bid, and all priority-fee payments are recorded publicly onchain. Full use of the speed advantage requires a direct connection to a node operated by the Hyperliquid Foundation, along with trading-volume and token-staking requirements.

DRW founder Don Wilson previously questioned Hyperliquid’s priority-fee model, including whether the auction mechanism is fairer than server colocation at traditional exchanges and whether it can meet U.S. regulatory requirements.

Wintermute founder and CEO Evgeny Gaevoy said the auctions are more transparent than traditional-finance low-latency networks and colocation. He said Wintermute mainly uses the service for crypto trading.