21Shares officially launched the first U.S. spot ETF tied to Hyperliquid on the Nasdaq on May 12, 2026.
Trading under the ticker THYP, the fund generated approximately $1.8 million in first day trading volume while attracting around $1.2 million in net inflows.
21Shares Introduces Physically Backed Hyperliquid ETF
21Shares announced the launch through posts shared yesterday, explaining that THYP is physically backed by HYPE tokens and also has the ability to stake part of its holdings.
The company stated that the ETF carries a 0.30 percent management fee, which it described as the lowest available fee for a Hyperliquid ETF as of May 12.
James Seyffart monitored the ETF’s trading activity throughout the session. Roughly two and a half hours after the market opened, he reported that THYP had already generated close to $750,000 in trading volume.
Meanwhile, Nate Geraci pointed out that a leveraged 2x version of the product was also available.
By the close of trading, Seyffart described the ETF’s $1.8 million debut volume as a very solid start for a newly launched fund, although he noted that the numbers were not exceptionally large compared to some recent ETF launches.
For perspective, Bitwise Asset Management’s Solana staking ETF, BSOL, generated $56 million in trading volume on its first day after launching in October 2025, making it one of the strongest ETF debuts of that year.
More recently, Morgan Stanley’s bitcoin ETF, MSBT, recorded approximately $34 million in first day volume when it launched in April 2026. Compared to those figures, THYP’s debut was considerably smaller, although analysts noted that Hyperliquid remains a far smaller and less broadly adopted asset than bitcoin or solana.
ETF Offers Exposure to HYPE Without Direct Ownership
The THYP ETF allows traditional investors to gain exposure to HYPE through standard brokerage accounts without directly holding the cryptocurrency itself.
However, 21Shares repeatedly emphasized in its prospectus and promotional materials that the ETF should not be viewed as a direct investment in HYPE and warned investors about the heightened volatility associated with the asset.
The firm also highlighted additional risks linked to staking activities, including validator performance issues, potential slashing penalties, and temporary lock up periods.
The launch comes amid growing interest in altcoin focused ETFs and follows a stronger period for crypto investment products overall. In April 2026, spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund products attracted nearly $2 billion in inflows, reversing several months of net outflows and pushing year to date flows back into positive territory.
At the time of writing, HYPE was trading near $40, down roughly 2 percent over the previous 24 hours and about 9 percent over the past week. The token also remains approximately 32 percent below its all time high of $59.30 reached in September 2025.#crypto#cryptonews https://coinsignals.net https://t.me/coinsignalpublic
