How do I add HyperEVM to MetaMask?

The parameters

Read from Hyperliquid’s developer documentation on the date at the top of this page. Check them there rather than trusting any guide, including this one — a wrong chain ID is the kind of mistake that is tedious at best and expensive at worst.

The docs do not publish a canonical block explorer URL, so this page does not name one. Several community explorers exist; pick one from the ecosystem pages rather than from a search result, because explorer lookalikes are a known phishing route.

Step-by-step

1. Open the custom network form

   In MetaMask: Settings → Networks → Add network → Add a network manually. The browser extension and the mobile app both have it, though the wording moves around between versions.

   Some wallets offer a one-click “add network” button on third-party sites. Those usually work, and they are also exactly what a phishing site imitates. Typing four fields takes a minute and removes the question.

   You should see an empty network form, not a search box

2. Enter the four values

   Chain ID 999, RPC https://rpc.hyperliquid.xyz/evm, currency symbol HYPE, and a network name of your choosing — the name is yours alone and has no effect on anything.

   MetaMask checks the chain ID against the RPC and refuses to save if they disagree, which is a useful safety net: if it complains, you have mistyped one of the two rather than found a bug.

   You should see the network saved, with HYPE showing as the currency

3. Get HYPE onto the EVM side

   This is the step people miss, and it is why a correctly added network looks broken.

   Gas on HyperEVM is paid in HYPE. USDC in your Perps or Spot balance cannot pay it, because those live on HyperCore, the other half of the chain. Until HYPE arrives on the EVM side, every transaction fails for insufficient funds while your HyperCore balance sits there looking healthy.

   You should see a non-zero HYPE balance, and transactions that actually send

Why HyperCore and HyperEVM have separate balances

The two halves run on one chain and share a validator set, but they are different execution environments with different state. An order book needs determinism and speed; general-purpose smart contracts need an EVM. Hyperliquid runs both rather than compromising on either.

For you that means one practical rule: a balance is on one side or the other, never both. Transferring between them is a deliberate action, not something a wallet does on your behalf. The full comparison covers what lives where.

What you would actually use it for

Nothing in ordinary trading. Perpetuals and spot are HyperCore, they need no network added, and they charge no gas.

HyperEVM matters if you want the DeFi ecosystem built alongside the exchange — lending markets, liquid staking, structured products. What is actually available there, and the honest version of what it pays.

Common mistakes

Adding the network and expecting to see your trading balance. Different side of the chain. Nothing has gone wrong.

Trying to pay gas with USDC. Gas is HYPE. There is no setting that changes this.

Taking network parameters from a forum post. Sometimes fine, occasionally a trap, and never necessary when the docs publish them.

Using testnet values on mainnet. 998 and 999 differ by one digit and the endpoints differ by one word. Read both twice.