Grayscale Targets To Corner HYPE ETF Market With Lowest Fee

 

Grayscale is making a run at the growing Hyperliquid ETF market, filing an amended S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday that sets a sponsor fee of 0.29% for its Grayscale Hyperliquid Staking ETF, ticker HYPG. The updated filing also confirms the fund will list on Nasdaq, and according to Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst James Seyffart, a launch could come as soon as this week.

 

That fee sits just below the 0.30% charged by 21Shares on its THYP fund, and meaningfully below Bitwise's BHYP, which carries a 0% introductory rate for the first month before jumping to 0.34%. It's a deliberate pricing move, and in a market where basis points can drive significant asset flows, Grayscale is clearly trying to get ahead before the institutional money settles.

 

Grayscale's entry would make HYPG the third U.S.-listed spot HYPE product, following Bitwise's BHYP and 21Shares' THYP, which launched in May on Nasdaq. Early demand for these funds has been hard to ignore. HYPE-focused ETFs pulled in over $132 million in net inflows in roughly their first month of trading, with zero outflow days recorded during an 8-day streak that coincided with HYPE hitting new all-time highs. For context, that run came while Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs were actually losing assets.

 

The 21Shares THYP fund collected more than $5 million within days of its May 12 debut, with Eli Ndinga, the firm's global head of research, describing the early response as evidence of real investor appetite for regulated, round-the-clock exposure to crypto-linked markets. Bitwise's BHYP held more than $40 million in net assets as of late May, while the two funds combined purchased roughly $16 million in spot HYPE in a single 24-hour window as share issuance expanded.

 

What Is Hyperliquid Anyway?

For people still getting familiar with the name, Hyperliquid is a decentralized derivatives exchange built on its own Layer-1 blockchain. It lets traders open perpetual futures positions entirely on-chain, without the custodial risk of a centralized venue. That 24/7 availability and non-custodial structure has made it increasingly attractive to both retail and institutional traders, particularly as centralized exchange perpetuals volumes dropped roughly 34% in early 2026.

 

The protocol's native token, HYPE, now ranks among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap, sitting around $16 to $17 billion as of early June. The token has climbed from roughly $20 at the start of 2026 to recent all-time highs above $73, a move that reflects both the platform's surging trading volumes and the structural demand created by HYPE buybacks. Hyperliquid directs nearly all of its trading fee revenue toward buying back and burning HYPE tokens, a mechanism that Grayscale's own research team described as a standout feature in a May 28 report calling the protocol "the breakout success story" of modern crypto.

 

Hyperliquid logged roughly $2.9 trillion in perpetual futures volume during 2025, and open interest has consistently ranked third globally, behind only Binance and Bybit. At a Bernstein conference in late May, Jeff Sprecher, chief executive of Intercontinental Exchange and owner of the New York Stock Exchange, said the 11-person platform had made a bigger impact on finance than Nasdaq. Whether or not that comparison holds up over time, it signals how seriously traditional finance is paying attention.

 

Seed Investment and Staking Angle

Grayscale's amended filing isn't just about fees. The firm has also been in discussions to secure a seed investment of around $115 million in HYPE tokens ahead of launch, a figure that would give HYPG substantial early liquidity. The fund's full name, the Grayscale Hyperliquid Staking ETF, suggests it intends to incorporate staking into its strategy, similar to Bitwise's BHYP, which targets staking roughly 70% of fund assets and reports a 2.25% gross staking reward rate. Coinbase is listed as custodian.

 

The staking component matters because it gives the ETF a yield angle that pure spot exposure does not. With HYPE's token unlock for core contributors worth roughly $684 million scheduled for June 6, near-term price volatility is possible, though analysts note the unlock represents just around 1% of total supply. The protocol's aggressive buyback engine and continued inflows into ETF products remain the more dominant forces.

 

Fee War Is Just Getting Started

The fee gap between Grayscale, 21Shares, and Bitwise looks small right now, but history suggests that it won't stay there. The same dynamic played out in Bitcoin ETF competition in 2024, where initial fee differentials narrowed sharply as issuers competed for long-term AUM. Grayscale is entering behind competitors who already have first-mover brand recognition in HYPE, so pricing aggressively from day one is arguably the right call.

 

With Seyffart expecting a launch by the end of the week, HYPG could be live before most investors have had a chance to compare their options. HYPE has generated more institutional interest per dollar of market cap than almost any altcoin this cycle and Grayscale is betting that being the cheapest option in a fast-growing category is enough to corner the market. For now anyway.