Coinbase will take on the role of official treasury deployer for USDC on the Hyperliquid platform, pushing aside USDH as the network’s stablecoin. The move comes eight months after Hyperliquid’s governance vote selected USDH, a stablecoin from Native Markets, over more established competitors.
What the governance vote chose
Hyperliquid’s community voted to adopt USDH as its stablecoin solution roughly eight months before the Coinbase announcement. At the time, the choice surprised some observers who had expected a larger, more widely used stablecoin to win the nod. USDH is issued by Native Markets, a smaller player in the stablecoin space. The governance process gave USDH the edge over alternatives, but that decision is now being reversed.
Coinbase steps in as treasury deployer
Coinbase will now serve as the official treasury deployer for USDC on Hyperliquid. USDC is the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization and is managed by the Centre consortium, in which Coinbase is a founding member. The move means Hyperliquid will use USDC as its primary stablecoin rather than USDH. The company’s role involves managing the treasury that backs the stablecoin on the platform.
What happens to USDH
The facts do not specify whether USDH will be fully removed from Hyperliquid or remain in some capacity. The governance vote that selected USDH was a deliberate choice by the platform’s community, but the new arrangement with Coinbase supersedes it. It is unclear if Hyperliquid will undergo another governance vote to formally ratify the switch.
The transition is set to take place, though no timeline has been provided. The change marks a significant shift for Hyperliquid, which had previously signaled a preference for a less dominant stablecoin. Now it will rely on one of the most widely used digital dollars in crypto.
