Bitwise Commits To Holding Hyperliquid On Its Balance Sheet

Bitwise has announced it will direct 10% of management fees from its Hyperliquid ETF (NYSE: BHYP) toward purchasing $HYPE tokens for its own balance sheet. The company said it will also stake the acquired tokens to generate additional rewards.

A Rare Move for an ETF Issuer

The decision sets Bitwise apart from most traditional ETF managers. Rather than simply collecting fees, the firm is putting a slice of those revenues back into the very asset its fund tracks. BHYP launched on the NYSE on May 15 with a 0.34% sponsor fee and is the first US product to offer in-house staking through Bitwise Onchain Solutions. The launch also included a temporary fee waiver for the first month on the fund's first $500 million in assets.

Bitwise was the first asset manager to file for a US Hyperliquid ETF last year, ahead of rival filings from 21Shares and Grayscale. But it was 21Shares that first hit the market with its THYP ETF on May 12, a fund that has since recorded around $10.5 million in cumulative net inflows. Together, the two HYPE ETFs have accumulated more than $5.6 million in total net inflows.

BHYP recorded about $4.31 million in first-day trading volume, making it one of the stronger altcoin ETF debuts of the year.

Why Hyperliquid's Tokenomics Make the Case

Bitwise framed the balance sheet commitment as a direct expression of Hyperliquid's own design philosophy. The firm said the move mirrors Hyperliquid's tokenomics, which route roughly 99% of protocol revenue through its Assistance Fund to repurchase HYPE. Hyperliquid routes those fees through the Assistance Fund to repurchase the token on the open market, creating a revenue-linked structure that has helped define the token's investment case.

Hyperliquid saw $2.9 trillion in trading volume in 2025, an increase of more than 400% from the prior year, and commands approximately 60% of all onchain derivative open interest globally. The token has roughly doubled in price in 2026, now trading above $44, with a market capitalisation of more than $10.6 billion excluding stablecoins.

The balance sheet pledge adds a second capital channel into HYPE beyond staking. For Bitwise, the move also signals a broader thesis: that aligning issuer incentives with the communities behind the assets they list can be a differentiator in an increasingly competitive altcoin ETF market.

Sources:
The Block: Bitwise to add HYPE to balance sheet using fees from Hyperliquid ETF
Crypto.news: Bitwise HYPE ETF pledges 10% fees to buybacks
BeInCrypto: Hyperliquid ETF Explained: BHYP, THYP, and TXXH