Key Takeaways:
- Bitwise has filed a key amendment for its Bitwise Hyperliquid ETF (ticker: BHYP), signaling the product is moving into launch-ready territory.
- The ETF will hold Hyperliquid (HYPE) directly, track a CF Benchmarks reference rate, and charge a 0.67% annual management fee.
- Uniquely, the fund plans to stake most of its HYPE holdings to earn additional tokens, adding on-chain yield to a spot altcoin ETF structure.
Bitwise is pushing deeper into the altcoin ETF race with a detailed filing for the Bitwise Hyperliquid ETF, a spot product designed to hold HYPE directly while also staking it for extra rewards. The latest amendment fleshes out everything from custody and pricing to liquidity management and staking policies, giving the market its clearest view yet of how a Hyperliquid ETF would actually work.
Read More: Bitwise XRP ETF Confirmed: Launch Dates Set for Trading on NYSE
Bitwise Files Detailed Blueprint for First Hyperliquid Spot ETF
The Bitwise Hyperliquid ETF will be established as a Delaware statutory trust, which will have its shares listed and traded on NYSE Arca under the ticker BHYP, upon approval and listing. The main aim of the fund is simple to expose the investors to the dollar value of Hyperliquid that is owned by the trust, less the operation costs.
Contrary to products that have derivatives, BHYP will directly purchase and price its assets based on the CF Hype Dollar US Settlement Price, a benchmark that will be calculated at 4:00 p.m. ET of executed trades in the major Hyperliquid markets. That rate, released by CF Benchmarks, forms the fundamental pricing benchmark of:
- Daily net asset value (NAV)
- Basket creation and redemption calculations
- Intraday indicative value used by market participants
Bitwise caps the annual Sponsor Fee at 0.67% of the trust’s HYPE holdings. That puts BHYP roughly in line with other single-asset crypto ETFs: not the cheapest in the market, but well inside the range investors have grown used to for altcoin exposure.
Anchorage Digital Bank, a regulated national trust bank, will act as digital asset custodian, operating segregated wallets, hardware security modules, whitelisting controls, and audit trails for the trust’s tokens. Cash flows move through BNY Mellon as cash custodian and administrator, which also handles NAV calculations, tax and accounting support, and transfer agent duties.
Read More: Bitwise Files for First Spot Chainlink (LINK) ETF With the SEC
How the Bitwise Hyperliquid ETF Is Structured
The ETF is designed as a physically backed, passively managed vehicle. It will not:
- Use futures or swaps
- Employ leverage
- Try to time the market or hedge price risk
Instead, the trust simply holds HYPE, values it using the benchmark, and issues shares that represent a proportional claim on those holdings (subject to fees and expenses).
Share Creation and Redemption
Shares are created and redeemed in large blocks called “Baskets” of 10,000 shares. Authorized Participants (APs) can:
- Deliver HYPE in kind to create new Baskets
- Deliver cash, which the Sponsor then uses to purchase HYPE
- Redeem Baskets and receive HYPE back
- Redeem for cash, funded by selling HYPE on the market
The size of each Basket in HYPE terms is recalculated daily to reflect:
- Total HYPE held
- Outstanding shares
- Accrued fees and unpaid expenses
This mechanism is meant to keep the ETF’s trading price close to NAV by letting APs arbitrage any large deviations through creation and redemption flows.
Tracking Hyperliquid’s Market Price
To support both transparency and trading, the trust uses:
- CF Hype Dollar US Settlement Price for the daily NAV
- CF Hypecoin-Dollar Spot Rate Index to calculate an Indicative Trust Value (ITV) every 15 seconds during NYSE trading hours
These benchmarks aggregate trades from selected centralized exchanges to reduce manipulation risk and provide a clean pricing source for institutional users.
Staking Inside the ETF: Yield, Liquidity, and Risk
One of the most striking design choices is that BHYP will not just hold HYPE—it will also stake it to earn more HYPE. This staking feature is framed as the trust’s secondary objective: generating additional tokens on top of price exposure.
Under the filing, the ETF intends to stake “a substantial portion” of its holdings through Anchorage and one or more staking agents operating validators on the Hyperliquid network.
Staking rewards (net of staking-related expenses) stay in the trust and increase total HYPE holdings over time, which should be reflected in NAV assuming network rewards outweigh slashing or operational risks over the long run.
