Grayscale Investments has filed an S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to launch the Grayscale HYPE ETF, a new exchange-traded fund that would track HYPE, the native token of Hyperliquid, the largest onchain perpetual futures decentralized exchange.
The filing submitted on March 20, 2026 proposes listing the ETF on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol GHYP. Grayscale Investments Sponsors, LLC, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, is named as the fund's sponsor, with Coinbase Custody serving as custodian and CoinDesk Benchmark providing pricing data.
Shares of the proposed trust would only be available for purchase in blocks of 10,000 shares minimum. The filing notes that staking rewards are currently prohibited, though future conditions may permit their inclusion.
The groundwork for the HYPE ETF began months earlier. Grayscale registered a Delaware statutory trust on January 8, 2026, under file number 10465863, following the same two-stage process it has used for other altcoin ETF products: Delaware trust registration followed by SEC S-1 submission.
Why Grayscale Is Betting on Hyperliquid
HYPE is the native token of Hyperliquid, a high-performance Layer 1 blockchain built specifically for decentralized financial infrastructure. Hyperliquid operates the largest onchain perpetual futures DEX by volume, and the protocol currently holds $5.22 billion in total value locked.
At press time, HYPE traded at $39.76 with a market capitalization of $9.48 billion, ranking it 14th among all cryptocurrencies. The token has gained 39.2% over the past 30 days and 177.8% year-over-year, making it one of the strongest performers in a market where the broader Fear & Greed Index has dropped to just 11, deep in "Extreme Fear" territory.
The filing marks a notable departure from Grayscale's historically conservative approach to asset selection. As crypto analyst KirbyCrypto observed, "Grayscale has been extremely conservative... HYPE breaks that pattern completely." HYPE is less than two years old, making it the youngest asset Grayscale has ever created a trust for.
Grayscale, which manages over $35 billion in assets, has been steadily expanding its ETF lineup beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum. The company's decision to target a DeFi-native DEX token signals growing institutional appetite for assets outside the traditional blue-chip crypto category.
A Four-Way Race for HYPE ETF Approval
Grayscale is not alone in pursuing a HYPE-linked ETF. VanEck (under proposed ticker VHYP), 21Shares, and Bitwise have all filed for similar products, bringing the total number of competing HYPE ETF applications to four. If approved, a HYPE ETF would be a precedent-setting moment: the first spot ETF approval for a DeFi-native DEX token.
The filings arrive during a more favorable regulatory environment. The SEC under Chair Paul Atkins has approved generic listing standards for crypto-based exchange-traded products, eliminating the need for asset-specific Section 19(b) rule change filings in many cases. This streamlined process has opened the door for a wave of altcoin ETF applications.
Nate Geraci, a widely followed ETF analyst, has noted that "Grayscale's actions, alongside Trump's pro-crypto administration, will soon open the floodgates for crypto ETFs." The sheer number of issuers racing to bring a HYPE product to market suggests the industry sees real demand for regulated exposure to high-growth DeFi tokens.
Grayscale's own head of research, Zach Pandl, has framed the broader trend in measured terms: "The next phase of crypto's evolution will likely be driven less by hype cycles and more by macro forces and regulatory clarity." That outlook aligns with the company's strategy of wrapping volatile DeFi assets in regulated structures that institutional allocators can access through traditional brokerage accounts.
HYPE's 24-hour trading volume of $344.51 million and its circulating supply of 238.39 million tokens (out of a maximum supply of 1 billion) suggest meaningful liquidity, though the token remains 32.95% below its all-time high of $59.30. With a fully diluted valuation of $38.27 billion, the gap between circulating and total supply will be a factor investors watch closely as the SEC reviews the application.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency and digital asset markets carry significant risk. Always do your own research before making decisions.