Grayscale Revises Hyperliquid ETF Submission, Substitutes Coinbase with Anchorage for Custodianship

Grayscale revised its Hyperliquid ETF submission on April 20, substituting Anchorage Digital Bank for Coinbase as the custodian for the proposed fund, a change that extends beyond mere operational logistics.

Coinbase Custody Trust Company serves as the main custodian for almost all U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs, making its exclusion from this filing a purposeful indication rather than a standard replacement.

The central inquiry: does the inclusion of a federally chartered bank custodian enhance Grayscale’s regulatory stance with the SEC regarding a fund linked to an asset whose underlying perpetuals platform is currently restricted from U.S. users?

Key Takeaways:

• Custodian modification: Anchorage Digital Bank takes over from Coinbase as custodian in Grayscale’s revised HYPE ETF S-1, submitted on April 20, 2026.
• Anchorage’s regulatory standing: The first federally chartered crypto bank in the U.S., possessing OCC-granted qualified custodian status – a distinction not held by Coinbase.
• Context of Coinbase’s dominance: Coinbase Custody Trust Company acts as the primary custodian for nearly all U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs; its absence here is structurally significant.
• Recent valuation of Anchorage: Tether’s $100 million strategic equity investment in February 2026 valued the company at $4.2 billion, an increase from $3 billion in its 2021 Series D.
• Pending approval question: Staking options in the HYPE ETF remain subject to separate regulatory approval; the fund would be listed on Nasdaq under the ticker GHYP if approved.

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What the Anchorage Appointment Actually Signals About Grayscale’s SEC Strategy

Anchorage Digital Bank possesses a national trust charter granted by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, making it the sole federally chartered crypto-native bank in the United States.

This designation provides qualified custodian status under federal banking regulations, a credential that the SEC has increasingly examined in digital asset custody arrangements.

Selecting Anchorage over Coinbase indicates that Grayscale is emphasizing regulatory framework over the operational ease of utilizing its existing ETF custody infrastructure.

Source: SEC

Coinbase’s exchange-affiliated model, while prevalent in the bitcoin ETF sector, raises concerns about potential conflicts of interest in its custody arrangements, a worry that regulators have highlighted in broader discussions about crypto market structure.

Anchorage functions solely as a custodian and bank, without a retail trading platform, thereby completely removing that conflict vector. Grayscale had previously appointed Anchorage as a secondary custodian for portions of its Bitcoin and Ethereum trusts in August 2025, making this an escalation of an existing relationship rather than a new introduction.

Filings from competitors offer a valuable reference point: 21Shares designated Anchorage Digital Bank N.A. and BitGo Bank & Trust N.A. as joint custodians in its Amendment No. 2 submitted on April 14, 2026, for its Nasdaq-listed THYP fund. The trend towards Anchorage across various HYPE ETF filings suggests a common understanding among issuers that the OCC charter holds significance in SEC evaluations.

Approval Outlook: What the SEC Weighs Next Around Hyperliquid ETF

Grayscale’s initial HYPE ETF proposal was submitted on March 20, 2026, following earlier submissions from Bitwise, which confirmed a 0.67% sponsor fee in its amended S-1, and 21Shares.

Whether Monday’s amendment resets the SEC’s review timeline as a significant update is an important procedural question; if it does, the approval timeline will extend accordingly.

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The fund’s staking feature remains the largest unresolved regulatory variable; the filing explicitly conditions it on separate SEC approval, indicating that the core listing decision and staking authorization are effectively two separate regulatory events.

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