Wall Street Bets on On-Chain Exchanges: HYPE ETFs Attract $161M in Just One Month

A month after the launch of THYP on Nasdaq, three spot ETFs for HYPE, traded in the U.S., attracted $161M in net capital inflow.

The only day with an outflow was June 5, when investors withdrew $2.9M from the BHYP fund. All other trading sessions ended with capital inflow.

This stable demand is partly explained by restrictions for U.S. users. Hyperliquid does not allow investors from the U.S. to use its platform directly, so ETFs available through brokers remain one of the few ways to access HYPE without using non-custodial wallets.

But it is not just about convenience. Investors are attracted to the Hyperliquid ecosystem itself. The platform offers transparent activity statistics, uses a model where part of the fees are used to buy back tokens, and already processes hundreds of billions of dollars in trades monthly.

What Is Behind This Token

According to DefiLlama, in the past 30 days, the trading volume of perpetual futures on Hyperliquid reached $240.5B. Over the week, this figure was $72.4B, and in the past 24 hours — $9.4B. The total accumulated trading volume has already exceeded $4.66T.

Other metrics also highlight the platform’s scale. Open interest on Hyperliquid is currently about $8.6B. If current trends continue, annual fee volume exceeds $1B, and projected annual revenue is around $886M.

Derivatives trading volume in the first quarter approached $493B. At the same time, DefiLlama estimates total trading volume at about $443B. When THYP launched in mid-May, 21Shares cited an even higher figure — $4.22T.

According to the methodology, 99% of perpetual futures trading fees on Hyperliquid are directed to the Assistance Fund for buying back HYPE tokens from the market. Developer fees are not included. Bitwise, which manages ETF BHYP, notes that almost all of the platform’s trading revenue returns to the market through the token buyback mechanism.

That is why ETF issuers are increasingly comparing HYPE to shares of exchange companies. The logic is simple: increased trading activity boosts fee income, income allows for more token buybacks, and a reduction in free float potentially supports the asset’s price.

According to BHYP, the fund manages $93.53M. As of June 10, the fund held 1.587M HYPE tokens. Gross staking yield was 2.25%, net yield 1.18%, with about 70% of the fund’s assets staked.

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Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan told CNBC in an interview that the market has so far realized only about 1% of Hyperliquid‘s potential. According to him, most investors still poorly understand what this platform is.

Presto Research head Peter Chang also noted that early data show strong institutional investor interest in HYPE ETFs. In terms of capital inflow relative to market cap, these funds even outpaced bitcoin ETFs at launch.

The HYPE token itself hit a new all-time high of $75.48 on June 2. Since the start of the year, its price has risen by about 160%. At the time of publication, the token is trading around $61, and the project’s fully diluted valuation is approaching $69B.

Why the HYPE ETF Story Is Different From Others

Solana ETFs are usually promoted through network activity and developer interest. XRP ETFs are more often pitched for payments utility and a clearer legal situation.

HYPE has a different story. Here, the underlying asset is more like a stake in an exchange business that already generates cash flow. Hyperliquid has visible trading volumes, open interest, fees, revenue, and a token buyback mechanism directly tied to trader activity.

HIP-3 is an open protocol from Hyperliquid that allows launching perpetual futures on almost any asset, provided there is a reliable price feed. Thanks to this, the share of cryptocurrencies in the platform’s total trading volume has dropped from about 90% to 65%.

Now, traditional assets regularly appear among the most popular markets on Hyperliquid. On some days, as many as five of the top 10 trading volume positions are instruments from traditional financial markets. Among them are the S&P 500 index, available through a licensed contract with S&P Dow Jones Indices, as well as silver, Nasdaq-100, oil WTI, and Brent.

In mid-May, open interest in the HIP-3 ecosystem reached $1.7B. Compared to February, the figure grew by more than 150%.

The largest participant in the ecosystem remains Trade.xyz — a project created by Hyperunit, which handles asset tokenization within Hyperliquid. It accounts for about $1.58B in open interest. Since October 2025, the platform has already processed over $100B in trading volume.

For HYPE supporters, this is an important argument. The more Hyperliquid earns not only from crypto but also from trading oil, indices, and precious metals, the more resilient its business model looks and the easier it is to maintain a high level of fee income.

When the Logic of an Exchange Stock Works and When It Does Not

The optimistic scenario for HYPE remains relevant as long as Hyperliquid keeps perpetual futures trading volume above $200B over 30 days. In this case, the platform can maintain annual revenue at the current level of about $885M or even approach $1.2B, matching the positive scenario previously described by 21Shares.

ETFs could become a third sustainable source of demand alongside staking and protocol token buybacks. If open interest in HIP-3 exceeds $3B, HYPE will start to be seen more as a fast-growing exchange asset rather than just another high-risk DeFi token.

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The negative scenario begins if monthly trading volume drops below $150B. According to 21Shares, in this situation, the platform’s annual revenue could fall to $350–450M. This corresponds to a potential token price range of $15 to $19.

If income falls, market pressure may also increase due to token unlocks. If buyback volumes are insufficient, new supply will begin to outpace demand.

Additional risk may come from ETF outflows. Given the relatively limited number of tokens in free circulation, large sales could significantly amplify price declines.

So far, this has not been observed. The only day with a net capital outflow from ETFs did not have a noticeable impact on HYPE‘s price. However, if volumes become ten times larger than they are now, the situation could look very different.

What Risks Are Listed in ETF Prospectuses

The BHYP documentation from Bitwise states that the fund is not subject to the Investment Company Act of 1940. The company warns that staking carries a number of risks, including validator slashing, loss of rewards, and possible delays in fund share redemption.

21Shares also notes network centralization risks, potential validator attacks, and ongoing regulatory uncertainty.

Both issuers emphasize that HYPE remains a high-risk asset associated with a young trading platform. It cannot be compared to shares of traditional regulated exchanges.

At the same time, Hyperliquid has to compete with centralized platforms that have much greater liquidity and advanced compliance systems. In addition, further platform growth largely depends on how actively developers continue to launch new markets via HIP-3.

One factor in Hyperliquid‘s rapid growth was its 24/7 operation. Last summer, during the conflict between the U.S. and Iran, traders sought opportunities to trade oil on weekends when traditional commodity exchanges were closed. This helped the platform attract additional trading volume.

However, with increased trader attention came greater regulatory interest. Historically, regulators have responded harshly to attempts to launch commodity derivatives outside traditional financial infrastructure.

If regulatory measures are taken against trading commodity perpetual contracts or tokenized stocks on Hyperliquid, it will directly hit the revenue sources underpinning the investment thesis around HYPE ETFs.

The next important test will be the sustainability of ETF inflows. Since the start of the year, HYPE has shown strong growth, so some early investors may start taking profits.

At the same time, Bitwise has already promised to direct 10% of management fees from the BHYP fund to buy and stake HYPE with its own funds. This creates an additional source of demand directly dependent on the fund’s assets under management.

But whether this mechanism, together with the protocol’s token buyback program, will be enough will only become clear if Hyperliquid can maintain the high trading volumes on which the entire investment story around HYPE is built today.