Centralised execution without a custodian
A purpose-built L1 running a full on-chain order book, matching at latencies close to centralised venues while margin stays in the user's own account. On major markets it now carries more open interest and resting depth than any other on-chain venue, and every fill is publicly recorded. As an engineering result that is remarkable; as a product it removed most of the reason to keep collateral at a custodial exchange.
The JELLY problem
In March 2025 a trader engineered a short squeeze in a thin memecoin market until the protocol's HLP vault faced an unrealised loss around $13m. Validators voted within about two minutes to delist the market and settle positions at the attacker's own short price. HLP finished roughly $0.7m up, the attack failed, and the precedent was set: a quorum can override market pricing in an emergency. Delisting votes were moved fully on-chain afterwards.
Two further manipulation episodes followed in 2025, the November POPCAT event leaving about $4.9m of bad debt in the vault. Three in one year is a pattern, and it is why this venue does not top our table despite leading it on liquidity.
What that means for a trader
During the 10 October 2025 cascade the vault gained roughly $41.5m while more than a thousand accounts were zeroed — the engine worked as designed, at speed, without mercy. Fees sit at the low end and funding is published hourly per market. You are trading on excellent infrastructure governed by a small stake-weighted validator set that has shown it will act.