Bitwise just swapped two 2021 blue chips for Hyperliquid

@Bitwise has dropped Polkadot ($DOT) and Avalanche ($AVAX) from its flagship Bitwise 10 Crypto Index ETF (BITW) and replaced them with Hyperliquid ($HYPE) and Stellar ($XLM). The reshuffle, announced July 9, 2026, marks one of the sharpest generational shifts the fund has seen since its NYSE Arca debut.

From last-cycle blue chips to the sidelines

Both $DOT and $AVAX were considered premier layer-1 assets through the 2021 bull market. Neither token loses anything on-chain as a result of this change, but their exit from one of crypto's most prominent passive products carries a symbolic weight. Both had been considered blue-chip layer-1 assets for much of the previous bull cycle, but the reconstitution process, built around constituent weight optimization and market capitalization rankings, determined they no longer meet the threshold for inclusion. Both coins had joined BITW at its NYSE Arca debut in December 2025 and lasted roughly six months.

$HYPE's $15 billion market value is 10 times $DOT's and five times $AVAX's. That gap in market cap, not sentiment, is what drives the BITW methodology. BITW seeks to track an index of the 10 largest crypto assets, screened by the experts at Bitwise, weighted by market cap, and rebalanced monthly.

$HYPE earns its seat on volume, not narrative

$HYPE posted $1.34 trillion in trading volume and $320 million in revenue in the first half of 2026, with a 165% year-to-date gain. Those numbers put it in a different conversation from most crypto assets, and Bitwise's index methodology picked up on that shift. The rebalance results show $HYPE entering at a 0.93% weight, making it the fund's fifth-largest holding, ahead of Cardano, Chainlink, Litecoin, and Sui. Bitcoin still accounts for 77.54% of the fund.

Hyperliquid is a decentralized perpetuals exchange, a DeFi-native infrastructure play rather than a layer-1 general-purpose blockchain. Its entry alongside established names suggests the index is increasingly willing to weight real economic activity, revenue generation, and on-chain volume as markers of legitimacy. The majority of trading revenues, approximately 95% or more, are used to buy back $HYPE tokens on the open market, reducing supply and supporting the price.

Bitwise's interest in Hyperliquid is not limited to the index. The Bitwise Hyperliquid ETF (NYSE: BHYP) began trading on May 15, 2026. $HYPE ETFs have crossed $100 million in cumulative net inflows as traditional finance investors increased exposure to Hyperliquid. Index inclusion tends to drive passive demand, and exclusion can quietly work the other way, meaning the exit of $DOT and $AVAX from BITW could further weigh on already-depressed prices for both tokens.

BITW rebalances monthly and weights assets by market cap after screening, meaning tokens can enter or leave the fund when rankings, liquidity, and index checks change. For $HYPE, the more pressing question is whether it can hold its seat at the next reconstitution.

Sources:
Bitwise Drops 2 Altcoins From Flagship Crypto ETF (Yahoo Finance / BeInCrypto)
Bitwise Launches Spot Hyperliquid ETF (BHYP) - Bitwise Official
Hyperliquid lands in Bitwise 10 ETF after 165% HYPE rally (Crypto.news)