Coinbase Is Moving Into Hyperliquid as USDC Replaces USDH as the Platform's Primary Stablecoin

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Coinbase is deepening its presence in the Hyperliquid ecosystem after Native Markets announced plans to transition its USDH stablecoin infrastructure toward USDC under a new treasury-sharing model called AQAv2. Under the agreement, Coinbase will acquire USDH brand assets and become the official USDC treasury deployer on Hyperliquid, effectively sunsetting USDH as the platform's primary quote asset. Native Markets co-founder Mary-Catherine Lader framed the transition as a validation of the team's original thesis that stablecoins should return value directly to the ecosystems they operate in rather than extracting it outward to incumbents. Native Markets itself remains an independent company, with Coinbase purchasing only the brand assets rather than acquiring the firm outright.

The shift represents one of the more significant stablecoin ecosystem changes of 2026. Hyperliquid had previously relied on bridged USDC liquidity with billions of dollars circulating on the platform, but critics argued that much of the reserve yield generated from those balances flowed outside the ecosystem to Circle and Coinbase rather than benefiting Hyperliquid users. USDH was introduced in 2025 specifically to redirect that reserve yield back into the ecosystem through trading incentives and contributions to Hyperliquid's Assistance Fund, which supports HYPE buybacks and broader ecosystem growth. Now, rather than competing against that model, Coinbase appears to be adopting it, agreeing under AQAv2 to share the vast majority of reserve yield revenue generated from Hyperliquid USDC balances directly with the protocol.

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Coinbase adopted the model it was competing against