Coinbase is taking over the USDH brand assets and will serve as the official USDC treasury deployer under Hyperliquid’s AQAv2 framework. The deal, announced Friday, does not include Native Markets — the company that launched USDH in 2025 — which will remain independent. Under the new arrangement, Coinbase will share most of the reserve yield revenue from Hyperliquid USDC balances with the protocol.
What the deal includes
Coinbase is not buying Native Markets itself. Instead, it’s acquiring the USDH brand and stepping into the role of treasury deployer. The AQAv2 framework requires the deployer to manage USDC reserves and pass on the bulk of the yield back to Hyperliquid. That yield comes from the reserves backing USDC circulating within the ecosystem.
Native Markets will keep running its own operations and plans to support liquidity for USDH/USDC trading pairs while Hyperliquid coordinates the migration timeline. No date has been set yet for the full transition.
Community reactions split
On X, traders had sharply different takes. Some described the move as a “cash-out” or even a “rug,” pointing to the shift in control. Others called it a strategic win for Hyperliquid and for USDC, arguing that bringing in a well-known custodian like Coinbase strengthens the stablecoin’s credibility.
The split reflects ongoing tension in crypto between decentralization and institutional involvement. USDH was built as a fully backed stablecoin tied to U.S. Treasuries and cash equivalents, using what Native Markets called the “Aligned Quote Asset” model — designed to redirect reserve yield back into the Hyperliquid ecosystem. Now a centralized exchange will manage that yield.
What USDH holders should do
USDH remains fully backed during the transition period, according to the announcement. Users can redeem their holdings through the official dashboard, with feeless conversions into USDC or fiat. Native Markets said it will continue to support the token until the migration is complete.
The dashboard is the only official channel for redemptions. Anyone holding USDH on other platforms should move tokens there to avoid complications, the company warned.
What’s next
Hyperliquid is still working out the exact timeline for migrating USDH balances and shutting down the original treasury model. Coinbase will begin acting as the USDC treasury deployer once the transition is live, but no launch date has been given. Until then, the old system runs in parallel.
The unresolved question: how much of the reserve yield will actually flow back to Hyperliquid users, and whether the community will accept Coinbase as the gatekeeper of that revenue stream.
