Grayscale amended its application to launch its Hyperliquid ETF on April 20, replacing Coinbase with a bank. Anchorage Digital Bank as custodian of the proposed fund, a step beyond simple operational arrangements.
It’s a business Coinbase Custodial Trust Company The primary custodian of almost all Bitcoin ETFs in the United States, so excluding it from this order is a thoughtful move and not just a routine substitution.
The key question remains: Does choosing a federally chartered bank as custodian improve Grayscale’s regulatory standing with the SEC for an asset-linked fund whose underlying perpetual contract platform is currently subject to restrictions that prevent users in the United States from accessing it?
Highlights:
- Change depository: Anchorage Digital Bank replaces Coinbase in HYPE ETF’s amended S-1 filing, filed April 20, 2026.
- Anchorage Regulatory Status: The first federally licensed crypto bank in the United States, it holds the “qualified custodian” designation from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) – a privilege that Coinbase does not have.
- Coinbase Dominance Background: Coinbase acts as the primary custodian for the majority of Bitcoin spot funds in America; Its absence here is structurally noticeable.
- Latest note from Anchorage: A strategic investment by Tether of $100 million in February 2026 increased the bank’s valuation to $4.2 billion.
- Pending approval question: The staking function of the fund remains subject to separate regulatory approval; The fund will trade on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol GHYP if approved.
Implications of Anchorage Designation for Grayscale’s Regulatory Strategy
Owns a bank Digital Anchorage A national trust charter issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), making it the only federally licensed digital asset bank in the United States.
That charter grants the bank “qualified custodian” status under the Federal Bank Act, a standard that the SEC has begun to examine increasingly closely in digital asset custody arrangements. Choosing Anchorage over Coinbase indicates that Grayscale is prioritizing regulatory structure over the operational ease of using its existing infrastructure for custody of ETFs.
Coinbase’s exchange-linked model, while dominating the Bitcoin fund scene, raises questions about conflicts of interest in custodial agreements, a concern that regulators have raised in broader discussions about crypto market structure. In contrast, Bank of Anchorage acts solely as a custodian and bank, with no retail trading platform, completely eliminating the possibility of this conflict of interest.
Grayscale had already added Anchorage as a secondary custodian for a portion of its Bitcoin and Ethereum funds in August 2025, so this move represents an escalation of an existing relationship rather than a new collaboration. Competitor demands also reinforce this trend. 21Shares named Anchorage Digital and BitGo as co-administrators in its recent THYP fund shakeup, indicating a shared belief among issuers that OCC licenses carry significant weight in the regulator’s reviews.
Approval expectations: what is the FRA considering regarding hyperliquid ETFs?
Grayscale’s initial proposal for the HYPE ETF was submitted on March 20, 2026, following earlier submissions from Bitwise (which confirmed a 0.67% sponsorship fee) and 21Shares. An important procedural question remains whether Monday’s amendment would reset the committee’s review clock as a substantive update; If this occurs, the approval deadline will be extended accordingly.
The advantage of… staking (Storage) in the fund is the most important organizational variable that has not yet been decided; The application explicitly requires separate approval from the Authority, meaning that the basic listing decision and the authorization of the storage element are in practice two separate regulatory events.
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