Hyperliquid turned on its Aligned Quote Asset v2 framework for USDC on Aug. 26, opening a new revenue stream that feeds the protocol's HYPE buyback fund. Coinbase and Circle split treasury and technical duties for the USDC reserves involved, and the first measurable payment lands Oct. 3.
Hyperliquid activated AQAv2 for USDC on Aug. 26, directing reserve yield from the stablecoin toward the protocol's Assistance Fund. The fund already uses most of Hyperliquid's trading fee revenue to buy HYPE on the open market, and AQAv2 now adds a second income stream tied to stablecoin balances rather than trading activity.
Coinbase and Circle split treasury and technical roles
Coinbase serves as USDC's treasury deployer and manages the reserve structure, while Circle acts as technical deployer, maintaining minting, redemption and native cross-chain transfer infrastructure through its Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol. Both companies staked 500,000 HYPE to activate the framework, and the treasury deployer's stake can be slashed if its designated address lacks enough funds to cover the protocol's automatic revenue deductions.
USDC rebalances between two addresses every block
AQAv2 splits USDC in a 1:9 ratio between a linked HyperEVM contract and Coinbase's treasury address, with roughly 90% held at the treasury address and 10% in the HyperEVM contract. System transactions rebalance the two addresses on every HyperEVM block, a mechanism meant to preserve user liquidity while letting most reserves generate yield. Stablecoin deployers share approximately 90% of cost-adjusted reserve yield with the Hyperliquid protocol directly, though actual payments can shift with USDC supply, prevailing yields and operating costs. Market estimates cited by Digital Asset put potential annual revenue between $135 million and $160 million, though Hyperliquid has not confirmed this as an official forecast.
First transfer arrives October 3
Revenue accrues over 30-day intervals before moving automatically to the Assistance Fund eight days later. An initial grace period pushes the first payment to Oct. 3 rather than immediately after activation, and later cycles are expected to follow the same 30-day schedule. The announcement confirms that reserve revenue reaches the Assistance Fund, but it does not state that every HYPE token bought with AQAv2 revenue will be burned immediately — buybacks and burns remain separate steps under Hyperliquid's token policy.
USDC supply on Hyperliquid stood at roughly $5 billion, giving AQAv2 a large reserve base to draw yield from. HYPE traded near $82 following the activation, higher over 24 hours and sharply higher over seven days, though no verified data ties AQAv2 to that move as its sole cause.
Source: crypto.news
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