How do Hyperliquid HIP-4 markets settle?

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Accepted Answer

Settlement should be read from the contract terms, not guessed from the price chart. Event-style markets resolve according to a defined outcome rule and expiry boundary, so the most important habit is verifying the exact market definition before you trade or backtest it. Start with the contract definition: Hyperliquid's public outcome metadata example includes an `outcome` id, side specs, and a structured description string with fields like `underlying`, `expiry`, and `targetPrice`. That means settlement logic is part of the instrument definition, not a footnote you can safely ignore. Event markets resolve by terms, not by vibe: CFTC educational material on event contracts emphasizes that these products have defined outcomes, a payout framework, and a fixed expiration or natural conclusion of the event. The same mindset is the right one for HIP-4: read the rule first, then interpret the market. Why settlement discipline matters: Two markets can look visually similar on a chart while resolving under different conditions. That is why contract provenance has to travel with the data and with the trade log. What good research does: Good research treats settlement as a first-class field. If you flatten everything into one generic yes-no label, you make later comparisons look cleaner than they really are.