Coinbase buys USDH brand, will deploy USDC as Hyperliquid treasury

Coinbase has acquired the USDH brand assets and will deploy native USDC as Hyperliquid’s treasury under the upgraded AQAv2 framework, Native Markets confirmed on May 14, 2026. The change replaces USDH as the network’s primary quote asset and makes Coinbase the official USDC treasury deployer for the decentralized perpetuals platform.

Under AQAv2, Coinbase will share the majority of reserve yield generated by USDC balances on Hyperliquid with the protocol. The agreement redirects stablecoin reserve revenue to the trading network rather than routing most returns to external issuers.

Hyperliquid previously used large volumes of bridged USDC as its main quote asset. Estimates place the platform’s USDC holdings at about $5.5 billion, producing roughly $220 million a year in reserve yield for the issuer. When USDH launched in 2025, it captured an estimated $110 million of that yield for the protocol through an ‘Aligned Quote Asset’ model that returned part of reserve revenue to trading incentives and an Assistance Fund.

Native Markets clarified that the deal is not a full acquisition of the company. Coinbase is purchasing the USDH brand and will operate as Hyperliquid’s USDC treasury deployer while Native Markets remains independent. Native Markets co-founder Mary-Catherine Lader wrote on social media that the transition ‘validates the team’s thesis that stablecoins must return value directly to users and ecosystems rather than extracting it.’

Native Markets and Hyperliquid said USDH will remain fully backed during the migration. They plan to offer feeless conversions of USDH into USDC or fiat through an official dashboard, maintain liquidity for USDH/USDC trading pairs, and coordinate timelines for moving spot and perpetual market liquidity onto USDC.

Some users posted concerns characterizing the change as a cash-out, while other users described it as a strategic outcome for Hyperliquid and for USDC’s on-chain use. Industry participants noted that comparable revenue-sharing arrangements could be pursued by other exchanges and DeFi projects if AQAv2 keeps reserve yield inside blockchain ecosystems.

Hyperliquid’s native token HYPE traded at about $40.11 at the time of reporting, up nearly 3% over the previous 24 hours. Market participants will watch how liquidity and incentives move from USDH to USDC-powered markets and whether AQAv2 is adopted by other platforms.