BHYP on the Horizon: Bitwise Drops Second Amendment as Hyperliquid ETF Launch Looks Impending

Bitwise Asset Management has filed a second amendment to Form S-1 for the much-anticipated Hyperliquid ETF, which—let's be honest—we were all refreshing the SEC's EDGAR system for at 2 AM like it was the blockchain lottery. For those keeping score at home, this marks the second amendment to the original filing, which suggests either very thorough lawyers or Bitwise really, really wants your retirement fund to have skin in the Hyperliquid game. The amendments typically refine details around the creation/redemption mechanism, fee structures, and the ever-important "how do we make this not look like a security" legal gymnastics that every spot ETF application requires.Industry analysts are reading the tea leaves and seeing this as a green light—or at least a "yellow light with the turn signal on" situation. Spot crypto ETFs have become the gold rush of the traditional finance world, with Bitcoin and Ethereum products raking in billions since their launches. An Hyperliquid ETF would essentially let normie investors get exposure to the HYPE (pun intended, because it's called Hyperliquid, and yes, they will definitely make merch out of this) without having to figure out self-custody or what a blockchain actually is. For the crypto natives, it's peak comedy watching TradFi try to democratize a protocol built by degens, for degens.

The timing is particularly interesting given Hyperliquid's meteoric rise in the L1 landscape. The protocol has been gaining serious traction, and Bitwise clearly doesn't want to miss the party—or more accurately, doesn't want BlackRock or Fidelity to show up without them. The filing amendments suggest Bitwise is dotting the i's and crossing the t's, probably doing the regulatory equivalent of "is this thing even allowed to exist in our jurisdiction" while the Hyperliquid community mints another collection of absurdist JPEGs to celebrate.