The Hyperliquid ETF Race Is On: Bitwise BHYP, Arthur Hayes at $10M, and 4 Issuers Fighting for First
Bitwise launched BHYP on Deutsche Börse and filed a second U.S. amendment. Arthur Hayes just bought another $1.1M in HYPE. Four asset managers are racing to offer spot HYPE exposure. Here is everything you need to know.
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Launch Free Terminal →Four Asset Managers, One Token, Zero Approved U.S. ETFs — Yet
The race to launch the first spot Hyperliquid ETF in the United States just entered its final stretch. As of April 13, 2026, four major asset managers have filed for spot HYPE exposure, and the competition is heating up faster than anyone expected.
Bitwise filed a second amendment to its S-1 registration on April 10, confirming the ticker BHYP and a 0.67% management fee. Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas flagged the update as a sign that launch could be imminent — these types of amendments typically precede active SEC review and approval timelines.
But Bitwise is not alone. 21Shares filed its S-1 back in October 2025. Grayscale submitted its GHYP filing on March 21, 2026, targeting Nasdaq with Coinbase Custody as custodian. VanEck has confirmed plans for VHYP, a spot staking ETF. No filings from BlackRock or Fidelity have surfaced yet, but many expect that to change once the first HYPE ETF trades.
Bitwise Already Launched in Europe
One day before the U.S. filing update, Bitwise Europe launched the Bitwise Hyperliquid Staking ETP on Deutsche Börse Xetra on April 9. The product carries a 0.85% expense ratio, holds HYPE in cold storage, tracks the Kaiko HYPE Reference Rate, and targets approximately 1% net staking rewards annually.
This is Bitwise's seventh institutional-grade staking ETP in Europe, and it signals their conviction that HYPE belongs in the same category as ETH, SOL, and other major L1 tokens.
Arthur Hayes Just Went Bigger
On April 11, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes bought 26,022 HYPE tokens for roughly $1.1 million — his first purchase in nearly three months. His total position now sits at 247,334 HYPE worth approximately $10.44 million, with over $2.5 million in unrealized profit.
Hayes has publicly predicted HYPE could reach $150 by August 2026, driven by growing DEX derivatives volume, HIP-3 commodity markets, and the protocol's aggressive buyback mechanism.
He is not the only whale loading up. On-chain analytics platform Lookonchain flagged a fresh wallet that deposited 5 million USDC into Hyperliquid and immediately deployed $2.39 million into 59,239 HYPE. Another whale deposited 7.86 million USDC to buy 200,042 HYPE. This kind of conviction capital — not speculation, not leverage — is the strongest signal institutional appetite is real.
Why HYPE Is Different From Other ETF Candidates
Most tokens that get ETF filings are either store-of-value narratives (BTC) or smart contract platforms (ETH, SOL). HYPE is neither. It is the native token of a protocol that generates hundreds of millions in actual revenue.
Hyperliquid generated $396.4 million in revenue over the trailing 180 days and controls approximately 62-73% of the on-chain derivatives market. Daily volume regularly exceeds $8 billion, with peaks above $65 billion during high-volatility events. The platform's Assistance Fund uses 97% of all fees to buy back HYPE on the open market every single day.
This is not a governance token with theoretical value. HYPE has a direct, measurable link to platform revenue that makes it fundamentally different from most ETF candidates.
The TradFi Perps Explosion
BitMEX research published on April 9 shows that weekly volume for traditional finance perpetual swaps exploded to $30.7 billion in Q1 2026. Hyperliquid captured 29.7% of this market with 953% quarterly volume growth, driven primarily by commodity trading — oil, gold, and silver.
During the U.S.-Iran tensions, traders flooded into Hyperliquid to trade oil perps around the clock. While CME is closed on weekends, Hyperliquid never stops. This 24/7 access to commodity exposure is a structural advantage that keeps driving volume growth.
What the $375M Token Unlock Tells Us
On April 6, Hyperliquid executed its scheduled unlock of 9.92 million HYPE tokens worth approximately $375 million. The result? Minimal market impact. Over 85% of unlocked tokens went straight to long-term staking, liquidity incentives, and ecosystem rewards. Daily trading volume exceeded $65 billion in the 24 hours following the unlock.
When insiders choose to stake rather than sell, that tells you everything about internal conviction.
What This Means for Traders
HYPE is currently trading around $40-42, roughly 32% below its all-time high of $59.30 from September 2025. With ETF approvals potentially weeks away, whale accumulation accelerating, and protocol revenue at record levels, the setup is compelling.
However, short-term technical signals are mixed. A DeMark Sequential sell signal appeared on the 12-hour chart, and some analysts project a possible pullback to the $29-33 range before any sustained breakout. Only about 24.8% of HYPE's 1 billion max supply is currently circulating, which means significant future dilution as remaining tokens unlock.
The long-term thesis remains the same: HYPE is one of the few tokens where price is directly tied to actual business revenue. ETF approval would bring a new wave of institutional capital that currently cannot access DeFi protocols directly.
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