NCIQ is Hashdex's Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF, a US-listed spot fund that tracks the Nasdaq Crypto US Settlement Price Index and holds a screened basket of large-cap crypto assets, rebalanced quarterly.

Does the ETF hold HYPE directly?

NCIQ holds the underlying tokens in its index basket via qualified custodians. Exact target weights and custody arrangements are disclosed in the fund's periodic filings and rebalance notices.

Is this a buy signal for HYPE?

No. Index inclusion is a regulatory and distribution signal, not a price forecast. The tradeable question is whether other index ETFs follow within one to two quarters.

What other tokens are in NCIQ?

NCIQ's basket has historically been anchored by bitcoin and ether, with a smaller allocation to other constituents that meet the Nasdaq index screen at each reconstitution.

Hashdex Adds Hyperliquid's HYPE to Its Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF

Market impact

NCIQ is small relative to the spot bitcoin ETF cohort, so the direct flow impact from a single rebalance is limited. The signaling impact is not. Hashdex's move puts pressure on the other multi-asset index issuers, chiefly Bitwise's BITW, Grayscale's diversified vehicles, and Franklin Templeton's crypto index products, to justify why they are still HYPE-free.

Expect index committees at Bloomberg and MarketVector to review inclusion criteria at their next quarterly reconstitution. On the token side, the tradeable read is not the ETF flow itself but the follow-on.

Bull case: HYPE holds above its prior monthly range low and index committees follow Hashdex within one to two quarters, tightening the discount between spot HYPE and any future single-asset wrapper.

Base case: HYPE rangebound while the market waits for a second issuer to confirm the signal, with support tracking Hyperliquid's on-chain fee run rate.

Bear case: a slowdown in Hyperliquid perp volume before the next NCIQ rebalance forces a weight cut, invalidating the institutional-adoption thesis for this cycle.

Hashdex Adds Hyperliquid's HYPE to Its Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF

Hashdex added Hyperliquid's HYPE token to its Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF (ticker NCIQ) on Tuesday, per a report from CryptoBriefing, giving US investors their first regulated wrapper exposure to one of the fastest-growing perpetual-futures venues in crypto. The rebalance folds HYPE into a basket that already tracks bitcoin, ether, and a rotating set of large-cap tokens screened by the Nasdaq Crypto US Settlement Price Index. It is the first spot-style US fund to add the token since Hyperliquid's mainnet TGE last year.

By Daniel Park· AI-assisted· On-chain analyst

What happened

Hashdex, the Brazil-founded issuer behind the Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF (NCIQ), added Hyperliquid's HYPE token to the fund's underlying basket, according to CryptoBriefing's Tuesday report. NCIQ tracks the Nasdaq Crypto US Settlement Price Index, a rules-based benchmark screened by Nasdaq that requires listed constituents to meet liquidity, custody, and exchange-support thresholds.

HYPE is the native token of Hyperliquid, the on-chain perpetual-futures exchange that has consistently ranked at the top of DEX perp volume leaderboards since its late-2024 airdrop. The addition marks the first time a US-listed spot crypto ETF has given investors regulated wrapper exposure to a perp DEX token. Hashdex did not disclose the exact target weight for HYPE inside NCIQ; the fund rebalances on a quarterly schedule with intra-quarter adjustments allowed when the underlying index reconstitutes.

Why it matters

NCIQ is one of the handful of US spot vehicles cleared to hold anything beyond bitcoin and ether under the SEC's post-2024 framework, and every constituent addition is a de facto regulatory tell. Getting HYPE into the basket means Nasdaq's index committee accepted the token's custody arrangements, on-exchange liquidity, and settlement pricing as institutional-grade. That is a materially higher bar than a Coinbase listing.

It also opens a distribution channel that has been closed to perp-DEX tokens: registered investment advisors, model portfolios, and 401(k) sleeves that can hold NCIQ but cannot custody spot HYPE directly. The read-through for the broader DeFi cohort matters. If a perp DEX token clears the index screen, tokens tied to on-chain derivatives infrastructure become viable index candidates in a way they were not six months ago.

Market impact

Hashdex Adds Hyperliquid's HYPE to Its Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF

What happened

Why it matters

Market impact

What to watch

Disclaimer

Key takeaways

Frequently asked

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