Grayscale has added BitGo Bank & Trust as an additional custodian for a portion of the HYPE tokens held by its Grayscale Hyperliquid Staking ETF, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Under the arrangement, BitGo will provide custody and safekeeping services for a portion of the trust's HYPE holdings. Adding a second regulated custodian gives Grayscale greater operational flexibility and reduces dependence on a single custody provider.
Institutional Infrastructure for On-Chain Assets
Hyperliquid originated as a crypto-native trading ecosystem, with its token closely tied to a decentralized perpetual futures platform. The creation of a publicly accessible staking ETF around HYPE represents a significant shift in how such assets are integrated into traditional financial structures.
Exchange-traded crypto products require institutional systems for holding underlying assets, managing operational risks, and satisfying regulatory requirements for public securities. Staking products add complexity by needing to account for network validation, reward treatment, and liquidity maintenance when holdings are committed to staking activity.
Expanding Institutional Custody Capabilities
Grayscale has been constructing similar institutional structures across a growing range of crypto assets as the ETF market expands beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum. This expansion is reshaping what constitutes institutional crypto infrastructure.
The market is now developing custody, staking, and fund-administration systems around specialized proof-of-stake assets. Several years ago, the primary challenge was finding regulated custodians willing to hold Bitcoin; the industry now must support increasingly complex arrangements around diverse crypto assets.
