Grayscale has revised its application for the proposed Hyperliquid exchange-traded fund, naming Anchorage Digital Bank as custodian instead of Coinbase, according to an amended filing submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 21.
If approved, the fund would list on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “GHYP.” Staking features are included in the concept but would require separate regulatory sign-off and are not yet cleared to launch.
Anchorage brings federal bank charter to crypto custody
Anchorage Digital Bank is the first federally chartered crypto bank in the United States, operating under direct federal banking oversight. By selecting a national bank as custodian, Grayscale is moving closer to the supervisory framework regulators have signaled they prefer for large-scale digital asset products.
This change also comes amid growing scrutiny of custodial concentration in the digital asset ETF segment, where Coinbase currently safeguards the underlying Bitcoin for most U.S.-listed spot products. Grayscale’s decision mirrors a broader trend among issuers such as 21Shares and Bitwise, which have pursued additional or alternative custodians to diversify operational risk.
Regulators have repeatedly highlighted custodial risk as a key concern in digital asset markets. Using a federally regulated bank is expected to help address supervisory expectations around asset segregation, operational resilience, and compliance controls for crypto held on behalf of public funds.
Legal backdrop and ETF product strategy
Grayscale’s move follows its 2023 court victory against the SEC, in which a federal appeals court found the agency’s earlier rejection of Grayscale’s bid to convert its flagship Bitcoin trust into a spot ETF to be “arbitrary and capricious.” That ruling pressured the SEC to revisit its approach and sped up reviews of multiple crypto ETF filings industry-wide, including those from major asset managers.
In parallel, Grayscale has been working to shift several of its existing products into ETF wrappers. Prior filings show plans to convert single-asset trusts such as the AAVE Trust, as well as blended offerings like the Digital Large Cap Fund, into exchange-traded structures backed by underlying digital assets. The strategy indicates a broader effort to center its lineup on liquid, exchange-traded vehicles rather than legacy trust formats.
Growing demand for regulated crypto exposure
Market demand for regulated crypto-linked products has remained elevated. Spot XRP ETFs saw approximately $1.4 billion in net inflows during the first quarter of 2026, signaling continued appetite from traders seeking exchange-traded exposure to digital assets.
U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs now oversee more than $140 billion in combined assets, underscoring how rapidly capital has accumulated in this segment since regulators first allowed such products to launch.
Against that backdrop, Grayscale’s Hyperliquid ETF plans position the firm to compete more directly in an expanding market where product structure, fees, and custody arrangements are increasingly key differentiators.
Staking features face separate regulatory scrutiny
While the structural path for new spot crypto ETFs has become clearer, the treatment of staking inside registered funds remains unsettled.
A joint interpretive release by the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on March 17, 2026, stated that staking rewards for 16 specified digital assets are not, in themselves, securities. That clarification was widely seen as a step toward enabling yield-bearing products that pass staking rewards through to fund holders.
However, the SEC has recently extended its review timelines for proposals from multiple asset managers seeking to add staking to existing Ethereum products. The delays suggest that even when the legal status of the underlying assets is clarified, regulators still view the operational design of staking—how rewards are generated, managed, and distributed—as a distinct and more complex issue.
For Grayscale’s Hyperliquid ETF, this means that while the core spot product could move toward approval under the updated custodial arrangement, any staking component will be subject to its own regulatory process and may not launch at the same time as the base fund.
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