Coinbase is set to become the official treasury deployer of USDC for Hyperliquid Protocol, letting go of the USDH over time.
In simple terms, Hyperliquid is in the process to retire the native USDH stablecoin. In its place, the exchange will use USDC (the world’s most regulated and trusted digital dollar at present).
In the process, Coinbase has been hired as the “Treasury Deployer.” This means Coinbase is now the official bridge that moves USDC onto Hyperliquid and makes sure there is always enough “real” money to back the digital trades.
Under the deal, Native Markets, which operates Hyperliquid’s stablecoin USDH, has agreed to give Coinbase the right to purchase the token and related brand assets, per media reports.
The bridging move comes at a time when USDC has catered to a wider audience in the market, becoming one of the biggest dollar backed stablecoins in the sector. Interestingly, USDC is also the leading stablecoin on the Hyperliquid platform since 2023.
On the other hand, the USDH was launched in 2025 by Native markets, but is now being retired to maintain focus on one type of stablecoin. By using USDC, which is fully reserved in U.S. banks, investors are likely to feel much safer than using experimental or “unbacked” digital dollars.
“Over the coming months, users will continue to be able to redeem USDH for USDC or fiat without fees via Native Markets’ USDH Dashboard,” Coinbase stated.
“USDC has seen rapid growth on Hyperliquid, and now with Coinbase’s support, it represents the deepest onchain integration of a stablecoin to date, “ the exchange added.
Native Markets assures USDH value wont diminish
In a different statement, Native Markets reassured consumers that USDH is still fully supported and maintained. The platform emphasised that the deal does not constitute a complete takeover of the business. Rather, although Native Markets continues to operate independently, Coinbase is acquiring USDH brand assets.
According to co-founder Mary-Catherine Lader, the change supports the team’s argument that stablecoins should not extract value but rather give it back to users and ecosystems.
Hyperliquid shifts to USDC amid higher growth
The token migration is taking place at a time when Hyperliquid has emerged as the leading onchain perpetual trading platform in the crypto world, supported by an efficient Layer 1 blockchain.
Hyperliquid Chain accounts for over 40 percent of the total fee income in the market and is ahead of Ethereum, Solana, Tron, and several other platforms. The key revenue driver for the ecosystem is perpetual trading, wherein clients pay to initiate, maintain, and close their leverage trades.
In response to the market’s acknowledgement of Hyperliquid’s leading position in the onchain derivatives market, 21Shares created the first-ever Hyperliquid exchange-traded fund earlier this week that offers exposure to its native cryptocurrency, HYPE (HYPE).
Partnership comes amid Coinbase pushes for stablecoin adoption
The partnership comes amid Coinbase’s broader strategy to push the adoption of the USDC stablecoin far beyond the Ethereum blockchain and traditional centralized cryptocurrency exchanges.
Rather than keeping USDC mainly tied to large exchange platforms, Coinbase is increasingly focused on embedding the stablecoin directly into onchain trading systems and decentralized financial infrastructure.
The development is particularly important because Hyperliquid has quickly emerged as one of the biggest onchain trading platforms in the crypto industry, with the total USDC supply on the network nearing $5 billion.
Coinbase is positioning itself to strengthen USDC’s presence inside decentralized trading ecosystems while also boosting the stablecoin’s liquidity, utility and adoption across a much wider base of crypto users and applications.