HYPE Jumps 17% After Coinbase Gains USDH Rights, Will Stake Token

HYPE, the native token of Hyperliquid, rose 17% to $46.93 on Friday after Coinbase secured rights to purchase the USDH brand assets and agreed to stake HYPE to activate AQAv2 on the protocol.

The rally pushed HYPE’s market value to just over $10 billion, reversing a decline from about $44 on May 9 to under $39 on May 14. The token later traded near $45.68 at 4:40 a.m. EDT.

Hyperliquid posted on X that Native Markets has agreed to terms granting Coinbase the right to buy the USDH brand assets. Under the arrangement, Coinbase will act as a treasury deployer, stake HYPE to enable AQAv2 and share the majority of reserve yield revenue with the network.

Hyperliquid wrote, “With Coinbase, in its role as treasury deployer, sharing the vast majority of reserve yield revenue with the protocol, USDC will become the most aligned stablecoin on Hyperliquid.” The platform said canonical outcome (HIP-4) markets will use USDC as the quote asset in a planned network upgrade.

The protocol noted feedback from users and builders that fragmentation among stablecoins had degraded the trading experience. Hyperliquid plans to sunset USDH markets over time but stated USDH remains fully backed and users can convert to USDC or fiat without fees during the transition.

The Hyper Foundation will provide grants to eligible HIP-3 and HIP-1 deployers and to builders that integrated USDH, and it will support teams through the migration over the next few months.

Reaction on social channels was mostly positive, with many users welcoming the consolidation of liquidity and some expressing surprise at the pivot away from the native USDH asset.

Hyperliquid is a decentralized exchange and layer 1 protocol whose native utility token is HYPE. USDH was developed by Native Markets as a network-integrated stablecoin for Hyperliquid; USDC is a dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Circle. AQAv2 is a protocol feature that requires staked HYPE to activate, and Coinbase’s commitment to stake the token is intended to enable the upgrade and align treasury operations with the network.