On April 15, 2026, crypto asset manager 21Shares submitted a significant second amendment to its S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its proposed spot Hyperliquid ETF. The filing officially designates "THYP" as the fund's trading ticker on the Nasdaq exchange, marking a key step in the race to launch the first regulated investment product for the Hyperliquid Layer 1 ecosystem.
The updated prospectus details a "staking-integrated" custody model, a defining feature that differentiates it from traditional spot ETFs. The fund plans to stake between 30% and 70% of its HYPE token holdings to generate native yield from the network's Proof-of-Stake consensus. This "Yield Enhancement" clause is designed to provide a "net-positive" return for shareholders, potentially offsetting the fund's management fee, which 21Shares has hinted will be a competitive 59 basis points.
To manage the technical risks of staking, 21Shares has partnered with custody specialists Copper and Zodia Custody to implement a "Zero-Trust" architecture, ensuring assets remain in secure "cold-vault" environments. This "hardened" custody approach is seen as critical for gaining regulatory approval.
The filing reveals procedural progress, noting that the sponsor, 21Shares US LLC, purchased and redeemed seed shares in March and plans to acquire an initial seed creation basket of 20,000 shares at $25 each to purchase HYPE before listing. The SEC has reportedly scheduled a multi-agency review for the THYP filing for late May.
This move intensifies competition with rival asset managers. Bitwise recently amended its own Hyperliquid ETF filing (ticker: BHYP) with a 0.67% fee, and Grayscale filed an application last month. Analysts suggest the launch of these specialized ETFs could trigger a "massive re-rating" of the Hyperliquid network's valuation, transitioning it into a core institutional asset class.
