The asset manager filed a second amendment to its S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, identifying FalconX (operating as Solios, Inc.), Flowdesk, Nonco LLC, and Wintermute Trading Ltd. as approved trading counterparties. The fund, which would trade under the ticker BHYP on NYSE Arca, carries an annual management fee of 0.67%. Anchorage Digital, a federally chartered crypto bank, will serve as custodian for the underlying HYPE tokens.

The filing came one day after Bitwise's European arm listed a separate Hyperliquid staking product on Deutsche Börse Xetra under the same BHYP ticker, with an ISIN of DE000A4ARTJ5. That European ETP carries a higher total expense ratio of 0.85% but targets a net staking reward of 1% annually. The U.S. fund also includes a staking component: the fund intends to retain approximately 85% of staking rewards after fees. Bradley Duke, Bitwise's Managing Director and Head of Europe, said that "Hyperliquid has emerged as a notable on-chain trading venue...combining high performance with transparency" when announcing the European product.

What Trading Counterparties Actually Do

In a spot crypto ETF, trading counterparties are the firms that make share creation and redemption work in practice. When an institutional investor wants to buy or sell large blocks of ETF shares, these counterparties source or absorb the underlying token at prices tied to net asset value. Their formal designation in an S-1 amendment signals that the fund is operationally close to ready, not just a concept on paper. Wintermute has played this role before, providing liquidity for Hong Kong's bitcoin and ether ETFs in 2024. Flowdesk is Paris-based and holds the distinction of being the first market maker registered as a Digital Asset Service Provider with France's financial regulator, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers. The firm raised $102 million in a financing round backed by BlackRock and HV Capital in March 2025, bringing its total funding to $182 million.

Hyperliquid by the Numbers

Hyperliquid is a Layer-1 blockchain built around a fully on-chain perpetual futures exchange. Its proprietary consensus mechanism, HyperBFT, processes roughly 200,000 transactions per second with a block time of 0.07 seconds. Cumulative trading volume on the platform has surpassed $3.64 trillion and currently sits at an all-time high. The protocol commands more than 70% of open interest across decentralized perpetual exchanges, with weekly trading volume of approximately $35.4 billion as of late February 2026 and more than 1.4 million users.

HYPE, the network's native token, trades at approximately $41.83 as of this writing, giving it a market cap of around $10.7 billion. That places it at approximately the tenth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, with a circulating supply of roughly 255.9 million tokens out of a maximum of one billion. The token has gained approximately 200% over the past 12 months. Monthly protocol revenue has exceeded $100 million at peak, and the protocol directs 97% of its fee revenue toward HYPE buybacks, creating a direct link between platform usage and token demand.

A Competitive Field and Regional Relevance

Bitwise is not alone in targeting regulated HYPE exposure. Grayscale filed for its own GHYP fund on Nasdaq in March 2026, with 21Shares and VanEck also submitting applications. In Europe, CoinShares already launched the CoinShares Hype ETP (ticker: LIQD) on Xetra on February 24, 2026, at a 0% management fee with a 0.5% staking yield, positioning itself as the low-cost option. Bitwise entered the European market six weeks later with a product that charges more but targets a higher net yield.

For investors outside the United States, these products carry practical significance that goes beyond fees. India leads global crypto adoption indices in 2026, yet domestic crypto ETFs remain prohibited and gains face a 30% flat tax with an additional 1% tax deducted at source (TDS). Institutional and high-net-worth Indian investors, along with fund managers operating out of Singapore, Mauritius, or Dubai's DIFC, may find U.S. or European regulated products allocatable in ways that direct token holdings are not. The Xetra-listed European ETP is accessible through European brokerages that diaspora investors from Nigeria, Kenya, India, and Pakistan commonly use, which lowers the barrier further.

Sub-Saharan Africa adds another dimension. On-chain transaction value in the region exceeded $205 billion between July 2024 and June 2025, a 52% year-over-year increase, with stablecoin volumes also recording substantial growth over the period. Hyperliquid's permissionless, non-custodial structure has drawn users in markets where centralized, KYC-heavy exchanges remain inaccessible or distrusted.

The competitive pace of filings, with the European market already live and trading, points to growing institutional appetite for regulated HYPE exposure. In this publication's assessment, that demand appears to be consolidating faster than the U.S. regulatory calendar is moving.