Grayscale Files HYPE ETF — Hyperliquid Heads to Nasdaq

The world's largest crypto investment manager, Grayscale Investments, filed an S-1 registration form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch an exchange-traded fund based on the HYPE token — the native asset of the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid. If approved, the fund would trade on Nasdaq under the ticker GHYP, with Coinbase Custody serving as the primary custodian.

Grayscale Filing Details

According to the documentation filed on March 20, 2026, the Grayscale Hyperliquid Trust (GHYP) would track the value of the HYPE token using CoinDesk's pricing benchmark to calculate the fund's net asset value. The management fee has not yet been disclosed.

A notable detail: token staking is currently prohibited under the fund's rules, but the documents include a so-called "Staking Condition" — a provision allowing staking to be integrated in the future. This leaves room for additional investor returns from network rewards.

What Is Hyperliquid and Why It Attracted Wall Street

Hyperliquid is the largest on-chain perpetual derivatives exchange by trading volume. The platform operates on its own Layer 1 blockchain and recently launched HyperEVM — an Ethereum-compatible environment that enables developers to build decentralized applications on top of the Hyperliquid network.

At the time of the filing, HYPE's market capitalization stands at $9.4 billion, ranking it 14th globally among crypto assets. Over the past week, HYPE gained 14.7%, significantly outpacing the broader market.

The ETF Issuer Race

Grayscale is not the first issuer aiming to create an exchange-traded fund based on Hyperliquid. Bitwise filed a similar application back in September 2025 and amended it in December, listing the ticker BHYP for trading on NYSE Arca with an annual fee of 0.67%. Investment manager 21Shares also submitted its own filing.

The triple filing from three leading crypto issuers strengthens the argument that Hyperliquid has outgrown its purely DeFi niche and has evolved into an institutional-grade asset. Overall, more than 40 crypto ETF applications have been filed in 2026, though these funds still represent a small percentage of total U.S. ETF market assets.

Regulatory Context

Grayscale's filing came three days after the joint SEC and CFTC ruling on March 17, in which regulators classified 16 crypto assets as digital commodities rather than securities. While HYPE was not directly included in this list, the clearer classification framework removes some regulatory uncertainty for the broader altcoin and DeFi token market.

Combined with the progress of the CLARITY Act, which aims to codify the commodity status of crypto assets into law, the market is gaining an increasingly predictable legal environment for institutional investment in digital assets.

What This Means for Investors

Grayscale's filing is yet another signal that the boundary between traditional finance and decentralized protocols continues to blur. If the SEC approves GHYP, investors will be able to gain exposure to the largest derivatives DEX platform through a regular brokerage account, without needing to interact with the blockchain directly.

For Bitcoin and other major crypto assets, ETFs have already become the standard tool for institutional access. Now this trend is extending to second-tier DeFi tokens, potentially broadening the investor base and increasing liquidity for these assets.