Hipo Review: Is GRAM Liquid Staking Worth It?

Hipo is a liquid-staking protocol on TON. You deposit GRAM and receive hGRAM, which represents your staked position. Instead of receiving more hGRAM as rewards, the value of hGRAM relative to GRAM rises as staking rewards accumulate. Hipo says hGRAM can be used across TON DeFi, so you may be able to put it to work elsewhere while your GRAM is staked. That extra use can also add risk: a DeFi app may have its own contract or liquidity problems.

Hipo also promotes HPO rewards through Hipo Club for people who stake. HPO is described as a governance and profit-sharing token, but token rewards and their value should not be treated as guaranteed income. The site says staking starts from 1 GRAM. Review the current staking and HPO terms before committing funds.

Hipo currently advertises a 0% staking fee. It also displays a yearly reward rate of 16.86%, calculated from its last two staking rounds. That figure can change, and past rewards do not guarantee future returns. Your actual outcome depends on the rewards generated and the value you can realize when exchanging hGRAM back to GRAM.

You will also need TON to pay network transaction fees. Hipo does not publish a complete fee schedule covering every possible action, so check the app before staking, using hGRAM elsewhere or exiting. Hipo says some HPO profit-sharing relates to fees it charges; with the advertised staking fee at 0%, do not assume HPO currently provides a particular level of fee income. Consider the full cost of any other DeFi service where you use hGRAM.

Hipo displays audit reports for its v1 and v2 smart contracts. The named reports include work by Quantstamp, ProgramCrafter, TonTech and Daniil Sedov, with dates from October 2023 to April 2025. Audits are useful evidence of review, but they are not a guarantee that contracts are free of bugs or that funds can always be recovered. Check the report scope and version against the contracts you plan to use.

Staking also involves reliance on the protocol’s contracts and validation process. Hipo describes itself as open-source and permissionless, but those claims do not remove technical or operational risks. Its public pages do not establish a licence, insurance, a published KYC policy or a named operating team. Only stake what you can afford to have locked or lose, and avoid treating HPO or hGRAM as cash-equivalent assets.

To use Hipo, you need a TON-compatible wallet holding GRAM and enough TON for network fees. You connect the wallet to Hipo’s app, choose an amount and receive hGRAM after the staking transaction. Hipo describes hGRAM as usable across TON DeFi, but each external app has separate risks and may have different liquidity. A token’s advertised exchange rate is not the same as a guaranteed sale price on a trading venue.

Hipo says you can return hGRAM whenever you want to receive GRAM and accumulated rewards. It does not publish a guaranteed processing time or withdrawal limits. Actual exits can depend on protocol conditions and available liquidity, so review the app’s current exit details rather than assuming an instant redemption. Hipo’s site links to documentation and community support, but does not publish mobile-app details or a service-level commitment.

Hipo is specifically for GRAM staking on TON; it is not a general staking service for other assets or chains. Its headline reward rate is variable, and a liquid receipt token does not ensure that you can sell or redeem it at the displayed exchange rate whenever you want. If you use hGRAM in another protocol, you add that protocol’s risks on top of Hipo’s.

Some important decision details remain unclear: Hipo does not publish a guaranteed exit time or withdrawal limit, and a full fee schedule, licence and KYC policy are not established on its public pages. That may be a poor fit if you require those details before connecting a wallet. Before staking, verify the app and contract details, read the current terms, and make a small test transaction if you decide the risks are acceptable.