Bitwise Asset Management put the first spot HYPE exchange-traded fund on the New York Stock Exchange on May 15, with a twist: the fund stakes the underlying tokens natively. The BHYP ETF carries a sponsor fee of 0.34%, though Bitwise is waiving that entirely on the first $500 million in assets under management for the first month. Within 48 hours, the two US-listed HYPE ETFs saw a 50% single-day volume surge on May 20 and combined net inflows of $25.5 million. BHYP alone pulled in $8.8 million.
Staking edge and buyback engine
BHYP is the only HYPE ETF that stakes the underlying asset. That matters because Hyperliquid's chain — which generated $11 million in weekly blockchain fee revenue for the week ending May 21 — burns 97% of those fees through automated $HYPE purchases. The burn mechanism has helped push HYPE's price up more than 50% in the two weeks before this article, sending it into price-discovery territory.
By March 2026, Hyperliquid's Assistance Fund had accumulated 28.5 million HYPE via open-market buys, spending over $1.3 billion cumulatively. That works out to an annualized buyback rate of 7% of market cap — roughly four to five times what BNB's equivalent program delivers.
ETF flows are the new price driver
The week ending May 26, Bitwise ETF clients bought $35.9 million worth of HYPE — an 18x jump from the previous week. Analysts can model two paths: if BHYP and the 21Shares product sustain eight-figure monthly net inflows, HYPE could clear $70 and target $80. But if weekly inflows dip below $5 million, the token could break below $55 support and slide back to the $48 range. For now, the buy-side momentum is unmistakable.
Hyperliquid's fee dominance
Hyperliquid's derivatives volume hit $2.9 trillion in 2025, up more than 400% year-on-year. The chain captured 44% of all weekly blockchain fee revenue in the week ending May 21, leaving Ethereum's $3 million in the dust. Most of that fee revenue feeds straight back into the buyback-and-burn loop, reinforcing the supply squeeze.
Bitcoin Hyper presale heats up
Separately, Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) is in presale at $0.0136. It's the first Bitcoin Layer 2 that integrates the Solana Virtual Machine, offering sub-second finality and cheap smart contracts while settling on Bitcoin's security. The project has raised over $32.7 million so far, with staking live at 36% APY for early participants. Its core pitch: Bitcoin holds $1.8 trillion in idle capital that programmability can unlock.
Bitwise's HYPE ETF is the first test of whether institutional demand can sustain a token's price through a staking wrapper. The next data point that matters: whether weekly net inflows hold above $5 million through June.
