Hotstuff: The Builder's Perp DEX (2M Builder Points + API)

Hotstuff is in the exact window airdrop hunters wait years for: invite-only, points live, no token out, and a team openly handing tools to builders. It is a project running its own Layer 1 with a full perpetuals exchange on top, and unlike almost every other perp DEX it is not only asking you to trade. It reserves a serious block of points for the people who build and grow the ecosystem, gives them builder codes and an API, and lets them earn a cut of the fees they route. That makes Hotstuff two opportunities in one, a farm and a build, and the build side is where the competition thins out. Here is the full picture.

Hotstuff is one margin account to trade, earn, and bank, aimed at retail users outside the United States. Under the hood it runs a purpose-built Layer 1 secured by a consensus mechanism called DracoBFT, so it behaves as financial infrastructure rather than an app renting space on someone else's chain. On top of that L1 sits a real exchange: perpetuals with up to 50x leverage, spot, an Invest tab with 200+ tokenized real-world assets, and vaults that pay APY on idle balances. You can trade crypto, US equities like Tesla and Nvidia, commodities such as gold and oil, FX, and index products from a single collateral pool. The app is in an invite-only alpha and a referral code is required to start, which is the classic shape of an early, high-upside window where being in now matters.

No token exists yet, so an airdrop is unconfirmed and speculative, but the signals are unusually concrete. The points program launched on February 26, 2026, and Hotstuff retroactively distributed 1,400,000 points to over 1,800 early users based on that day's snapshot. Points are distributed every Monday at 12:00 UTC on the previous week's activity, the weekly allocation is capped at 1.5M points and scales with volume, and the program is scheduled to conclude no later than Q3 2026. A hard-capped, time-boxed points program running on a project's own L1, alongside an invite-only alpha and an open builder push, is a textbook pre-token setup. Hotstuff is venture-backed too, with Delphi Ventures, Dialectic and Stake Capital among its investors, which is a meaningful signal for a tokenless project. There is no token sale and no way to buy points; they can only be earned. Treat it as a strong but unconfirmed prospect and position while the crowd is small.

This is where Hotstuff stands apart. Beyond trading, it runs an open Builder Program and has set aside up to 2,000,000 points to reward teams building on it. Builder codes plug directly into Hotstuff's on-chain order-fee logic, verified on-chain, so a team that ships an interface, a bot, an analytics layer, or an integration earns a share of the fees on the order flow it routes, and can qualify for the builder point pool on top. Rewards are distributed by evaluated contribution to Hotstuff's growth, so real, useful builds win rather than box-ticking. There is also a separate Creator Program for content, analysts and community contributors. The point stands: on Hotstuff the points are not only for traders, they are explicitly allocated to the people who build tools and grow the ecosystem, and that path is far less crowded than the trading leaderboard.

The pool went live on June 24, 2026, and it is already paying out. Within days, 82,000 of the 2M points had been allocated to early top builders such as Arbital, Cede Flow and Clash of Perps for user distribution. That is a big signal in both directions: real teams are already earning, and the vast majority of the pool is still unclaimed. To get in, apply through the Hotstuff Discord or reply to the builder announcement, then start shipping.

Everything a builder needs is public: the Builders API reference and the Hotstuff 101 for Builders walkthrough sit in the docs, and the team fields builder questions in Discord.

Hotstuff is alpha software on a brand-new L1, which is the central risk: new infrastructure can have bugs, downtime, and changing rules, and an unconfirmed token has no guaranteed value. Leverage up to 50x means liquidation risk is real, so size conservatively. Access is geo-restricted to non-US users. The points may or may not convert to a token, so build and farm because the signals are good, not because anything is promised. Use only the official hotstuff.trade domain, never sign a blind approval, and never share a seed phrase. See how to avoid airdrop scams .

What makes Hotstuff good for builders?

It provides builder codes and an API that plug into its on-chain fee logic, and it has set aside up to 2,000,000 points for teams building on it, so you earn a share of routed order fees plus a shot at the builder pool. A separate Creator Program covers content and community. It is the reward path most farmers overlook.

Is the Hotstuff airdrop confirmed?

No token is out and an airdrop is unconfirmed, but a live, hard-capped points program (1.4M points distributed to 1,800+ early users in February 2026, weekly through no later than Q3 2026) plus an invite-only alpha are strong signals. Treat it as speculative.

What can I build on it?

Trading interfaces, bots, analytics, or integrations using the builder code and API, plus content and community contributions that qualify for the Creator pool.

How do the trading points work?

You earn by organic trading via the app or API, distributed weekly on the prior week's volume with per-market boosts up to 5x. Self-trading and sybil behavior are excluded and the formula is dynamic and opaque by design.

Related: Hotstuff points farming guide , Developer airdrops and grants , How to farm perp DEX airdrops , and the airdrops list .

Hotstuff rewards builders, not just traders. Get in early, farm the points, and if you can build, claim the pool most people never see, with your crew beside you.

If you want to see what building on Hotstuff looks like in the wild, Hyperider is exactly this playbook shipped. It is a perp-DEX volume game that turns market-making into an arcade drive, placing tiny auto-closed trades on Hotstuff's live market through the builder rails while riders just steer a car and ride the green. It is the kind of tool the 2M builder pool exists to reward, and it doubles as the easiest way for anyone to farm Hotstuff volume. See the Hyperider guide for how it works.

Research, not financial advice. Web3 carries risk, do your own diligence.