21Shares launches Hyperliquid ETF on NASDAQ tomorrow

21Shares is bringing Hyperliquid to Wall Street. The crypto asset manager will list its Hyperliquid ETF on the Nasdaq on May 12, giving traditional investors a regulated on-ramp to one of DeFi’s fastest-growing perpetual futures protocols.

The fund will trade under the ticker THYP and carry a management fee of 30 basis points, or 0.30%. A Nasdaq notice went into effect on May 10, clearing the path for a rapid listing. It marks the first US-listed ETF to offer direct exposure to HYPE, Hyperliquid’s native token.

What Hyperliquid actually is, and why it matters

Hyperliquid is a decentralized perpetual exchange built on a dedicated layer-1 blockchain. Users trade perpetual futures directly on a blockchain-native order book. The protocol launched its mainnet in 2023 and has since grown into one of DeFi’s heavyweights.

Hyperliquid currently holds over $3 billion in total value locked and processes roughly $4 billion in daily trading volume. HYPE, the token that powers this ecosystem, jumped 15% in the lead-up to the launch, reaching $2.45.

The ETF structure and competitive positioning

At 30 basis points, THYP sits at a competitive fee level for a crypto ETF. The fund is designed to incorporate built-in staking yields, meaning holders may benefit from the protocol’s native staking rewards on top of any price appreciation in HYPE. This effectively turns the ETF into a yield-bearing instrument, not just a passive price tracker.

21Shares has been building its crypto ETF roster since 2024, and THYP represents its push deeper into the altcoin space.

Market analysts project that THYP could attract up to $500 million in assets under management within its first quarter.

What this means for investors

An ETF wrapping a DeFi derivatives protocol is a fundamentally different animal than a Bitcoin spot fund. Bitcoin ETFs track a large-cap, relatively liquid asset with over a decade of price history. THYP tracks the governance token of a protocol whose entire existence spans roughly two years.

Investors get regulated, custodied exposure to one of the hottest corners of DeFi without needing to manage wallets, bridge assets, or interact with smart contracts directly. But perpetual futures protocols carry unique vulnerabilities. Liquidation cascades, smart contract exploits, and sudden liquidity crunches are not hypothetical scenarios in DeFi, they are recurring features.

Investors watching this launch should pay close attention to two metrics in the first few weeks: daily creation and redemption flows, which will reveal whether demand is institutional or retail-driven, and the tracking error between THYP’s net asset value and HYPE’s spot price.