Hyperliquid Just Became the Fifth-Largest Holding in Hashdex’s Crypto ETF. Multicoin Is Selling Into It

Hyperliquid just moved into the fifth-largest position in Hashdex’s Nasdaq CME Crypto Index ETF, with a 3.36% weighting as of September 1, 2026. The addition takes the fund to nine assets from eight, putting HYPE behind only Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana and giving the token a new foothold in a regulated investment product.

Multicoin Capital, one of HYPE’s most prominent institutional backers, has been heading in the opposite direction after building a position of roughly 4 million HYPE in February and March. The firm published a bullish research report on June 25 that projected HYPE could reach $319 by 2028, yet it has since sold close to 75% of the position. So what does it mean when a regulated fund adds a token while its loudest institutional backer is selling it?

Hashdex Was Buying While Multicoin Was Selling

Hashdex added HYPE to the Nasdaq CME Crypto Index ETF, ticker NCIQ, on September 1, 2026, at a 3.36% weighting, while Multicoin was already cutting its position through a series of large transfers to Coinbase Prime.

The September 1 addition put HYPE behind Bitcoin at 74.36%, Ethereum at 11.88%, XRP at 5.21%, and Solana at 3.79%. Bitcoin’s weighting fell from 78%, while Solana’s rose from 3.2%, and the fund held $431.37 million in net assets.

HYPE entered through the index’s quarterly rebalancing rather than a discretionary investment decision. The token met the index requirements for liquidity, market capitalisation, and custody support, along with the SEC’s generic listing standards for crypto ETPs, allowing it to qualify for the fund.

Multicoin’s activity began in July, when it moved 395,570 HYPE worth about $23.8 million to Coinbase Prime on July 21 and 22. Another 86,000 tokens worth $4.78 million followed shortly after, while later transfers of 136,000 to 173,000 HYPE worth roughly $10 million each continued through mid-to-late August.

Onchain Lens counted about $59 million in HYPE deposits over 30 days, showing Multicoin steadily reduced its position as Hashdex added HYPE to NCIQ.

Thirty Institutions Now Hold $75 Million Across HYPE Funds

Multicoin’s June 25, 2026 report said Hyperliquid could generate about $8 billion in annual earnings by 2028, which led the firm to value HYPE at about $319. HYPE was trading near $63 when the report was published, and Multicoin has continued backing the ecosystem, including a $1.75 million investment in Trasia Labs, a perpetual futures platform built on Hyperliquid, on July 16.

The bigger change is that investors no longer have to buy HYPE directly to get exposure to it. Once HYPE is included in a regulated fund, money flowing into the fund is spread across its holdings by weight, giving institutional investors another way to buy the token.

A Securities and Exchange Commission order approving a Nasdaq Texas rule change allows a fund to hold up to 15% of its assets in investments that do not meet the strictest listing requirements. NCIQ launched in February 2025 with two assets and now holds nine, giving investors access to more crypto assets through the fund.

Grayscale also launched a Hyperliquid staking ETF this year, while 30 institutions, including UBS, Jane Street and Bank of Montreal, held a combined $75 million across HYPE funds. That gives HYPE more ways to reach institutional investors, even as individual firms decide how much of the token they want to hold.

What HYPE’s Buybacks, ETF Bid and Multicoin’s Selling Add Up To

HYPE reached an all-time high of $84.80 in late August and traded between $80-$89 so far in September, giving it a market capitalisation of about $20.33 billion and making it the 10th-largest cryptocurrency. At the same time, Hyperliquid has been using roughly 99% of its protocol revenue to buy back and burn HYPE, giving the token support from the network itself.

With Hashdex opening another route for institutional investors to gain exposure, Hyperliquid using its own revenue to buy back the token, and Multicoin reducing a position built around a much higher long-term valuation, three forces are now shaping HYPE.

Multicoin’s remaining position, HYPE’s 3.36% weighting in NCIQ, and the $78 to $80 support area are the clearest things to watch. If Multicoin slows its selling, HYPE keeps its place in NCIQ, and the price holds that support, the different sources of demand will start to reinforce each other. If those supports weaken at the same time, the ETF addition and buybacks may not be enough to offset the selling.

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