Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
Author | Wenser (@wenser 2010)
Last September, the battle over Hyperliquid's native stablecoin USDH once became an industry focus; now, this once highly anticipated stablecoin has suddenly reached its "exit moment."
Last night, Coinbase announced it will become the official treasury deployer for USDC on Hyperliquid, while USDH issuer Native Markets granted Coinbase the rights to purchase USDH brand assets. Subsequently, the USDH market will be gradually phased out, during which users can still convert USDH to USDC or fiat currency without fees.
Thus, the once famous USDH has become an asset acquired by Coinbase, while USDC has been officially established as Hyperliquid's official stablecoin and pricing asset. Odaily Planet Daily will briefly analyze the details and subsequent impacts in this article.
USDH Exits, USDC Rises: The Economic Calculations Behind $5 Billion
The grand drama of the "Hyperliquid Ecosystem Stablecoin Battle" has concluded with a win-win-win outcome for Coinbase & Circle, Hyperliquid, and USDH issuer Native Markets.
Coinbase further deepens its ties with the Hyperliquid ecosystem; Hyperliquid gains the majority of the stablecoin reserve income from USDC within its ecosystem; Native Markets, as the ultimate winner of the past USDH era, receives its reward by "selling the USDH brand assets."
Coinbase & Circle: Deepening Integration with Hyperliquid's On-Chain Economy, Continuously Increasing HYPE Investment
Currently, the scale of USDC on Hyperliquid is approximately $5.164 billion, a two-fold year-on-year increase.
As the official partner and revenue-sharing party for USDC, Coinbase's move undoubtedly aims to deeply integrate with the Hyperliquid ecosystem.
Furthermore, according to Hyperliquid's official announcement, both Coinbase (capital deployer) and Circle (responsible for technical deployment of CCTP and native cross-chain infrastructure) have committed to staking HYPE to activate AQAv2 (Aligned Quote Asset v2).
It is worth mentioning that in September last year, Circle already purchased HYPE tokens, and its current HYPE token staking scale has increased to around 500,000 tokens.
Hyperliquid: Receiving the Lion's Share of USDC Reserve Income, Benefiting from Coinbase Alliance
As for the biggest winner of this collaboration, it is undoubtedly Hyperliquid as the ecosystem foundation.
According to the official announcement, Coinbase will subsequently share the vast majority of reserve income revenue with the Hyperliquid protocol. Although the specific sharing ratio has not been disclosed, if based on the previous USDH revenue-sharing mechanism, Hyperliquid will actually receive approximately 90% of the reserve income.
Based on calculations by Hyperliquid community members, with a scale of $4.7 billion and an interest rate return of 3.8%, this corresponds to about $160 million in income; in other words, it equates to a daily $440,000 HYPE token buyback.
Moreover, with the CLARITY Act passing a vote in the US Senate Banking Committee, Hyperliquid's deep ties with Coinbase also imply that HYPE and Hyperliquid have gained a degree of support at the US regulatory level.
Native Markets: USDH's Historical Mission Accomplished
As the issuer of Hyperliquid's native stablecoin USDH, Native Markets appears to be the biggest loser in this "acquisition event," but judging from its official statement, its outcome can be considered a "successful retreat."
On one hand, USDH provided a model and template for the revenue-sharing agreement between Coinbase and the Hyperliquid protocol for USDC income; on the other hand, Coinbase likely directly acquired the USDH-related brand assets, meaning the USDH stablecoin issued by the Native Markets team was "acquired by Coinbase," thus providing the team with some economic return.
Subsequently, Native Markets also stated it would remain independent and seek development in other areas.
After USDH's Exit: In the Win-Win-Win Scenario, Only USDH Users Get Hurt
Of course, Native Markets' exit is not met with unanimous "praise." Hyperliquid community users also expressed criticism regarding its so-called "having a seat at the negotiation table" narrative.
Some believe that USDH's exit signifies a complete regression of the decentralization era;
Others pointed out that during the initial USDH stablecoin issuer vote, they should have chosen Paxos, as they at least considered users and stablecoin growth, while those who voted for Native Markets did so merely for alignment and internal interests. In the end, users gained nothing. These remarks also garnered considerable agreement and support.
Thus, the drama from a year ago, featuring "CEO romance" and "defying giants," has finally come to an end.
However, looking at the current scene of Hyperliquid "shaking hands and making peace" with Coinbase and Circle is somewhat sigh-inducing and even slightly ironic.
Everything, it turns out, was just about interest distribution, not the once-loudly chanted slogans of "for the community" or "for Hyperliquid."
Recommended Reading
Hyperliquid Stablecoin USDH Becomes "Industry Sweetheart," Giants Engage in Chaotic Distribution Rights Battle
USDH Vote in Progress: "Predetermined Script," "CEO Romance," "Retreating at the Height of Success" Take Turns on Stage
