Grayscale Sparks Fee War With HYPE Staking ETF Launch

Grayscale Hyperliquid Staking ETF (HYPG) began trading on Nasdaq on Wednesday, adding a new layer of competition in the rapidly expanding market for exchange-traded products tied to the HYPE ecosystem.

The fund provides investors with exposure to HYPE, the native token powering Hyperliquid, while also targeting staking-based yield through protocol participation. It enters the market as the lowest-cost listed product in its category.

Grayscale said the ETF is designed to offer a simplified vehicle for accessing both price exposure and staking rewards from one of the fastest-growing decentralized trading infrastructures.

“Hyperliquid represents something genuinely differentiated in the digital asset landscape,” said Krista Lynch, Senior Vice President of Capital Markets at Grayscale. “HYPG is structured to provide investors a straightforward way to access the growth potential of HYPE and participate in its staking activity.”

Fee competition tightens in emerging HYPE ETF market

HYPG launches with a 0.29% gross management fee, slightly undercutting competing products in the same segment.

• 21Shares’ Hyperliquid ETF (THYP) charges 0.30%

• Bitwise’s BHYP carries a 0.34% fee after its introductory structure

The pricing reflects growing competition among issuers seeking early dominance in a niche but fast-developing segment of decentralized derivatives-linked investment products.

Early flows show Bitwise leads inflows

Despite Grayscale’s lower fee positioning, early market data suggests Bitwise currently leads in assets attracted to Hyperliquid-linked ETFs.

According to Farside Investors data, Bitwise Hyperliquid ETF (BHYP) has recorded roughly $85 million in net inflows since launch, while 21Shares’ product has accumulated approximately $57 million.

The data highlights a familiar pattern in crypto ETFs: early leadership in inflows does not always align with fee competitiveness, as brand recognition and distribution often play an initial role in capital allocation.

Hyperliquid’s rapid growth underpins ETF demand

Interest in the new ETF category is closely tied to the rapid expansion of Hyperliquid itself, which has emerged as one of the most active decentralized trading ecosystems in crypto.

The protocol operates as an integrated onchain trading and smart contract system, combining perpetual futures infrastructure with shared liquidity and developer tooling.

In 2025, Hyperliquid reportedly generated approximately $857 million in protocol fees, with the majority allocated toward token buybacks—an economic design that has strengthened HYPE’s value capture narrative within decentralized finance.

Data from DeFi analytics platform DeFiLlama shows Hyperliquid ranked among the top blockchain networks by application revenue in May, generating about $53 million—behind Solana but ahead of Ethereum, Polygon, and Base.

HYPE performance remains strong amid ETF expansion

The token has also remained resilient despite broader market volatility.

HYPE has traded near $72, marking a year-to-date gain of roughly 184%, significantly outperforming major digital assets including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.

The performance underscores growing investor attention toward application-driven blockchain ecosystems where token value is closely linked to protocol-generated revenue and fee distribution mechanisms.

Outlook: infrastructure plays enter ETF phase

The launch of HYPG reflects a broader shift in crypto markets, where ETF issuers are increasingly targeting protocol-native revenue models rather than just passive spot exposure.

As competition among HYPE-linked products intensifies, fee compression and early flow leadership are likely to become key differentiators in a segment still in its early formation stage.