Anchorage Digital Expands Hyperliquid Support with HYPE Staking

Anchorage Digital Deepens Hyperliquid Engagement

Anchorage Digital has announced the expansion of its support for the Hyperliquid ecosystem with the addition of HYPE staking on HyperCORE, complementing its existing HYPE custody services on HyperEVM. Staking, the process of locking up cryptocurrency to support a blockchain network in exchange for rewards, is now available through Anchorage Digital Bank and Anchorage Digital Singapore, which holds a Major Payment Institution license. The company further stated that staking will also be accessible via Porto, its self-custody wallet.

The bank is collaborating with staking infrastructure provider Figment to manage the underlying validator infrastructure, according to a Friday announcement. With custody and staking functionalities now live across both HyperEVM and HyperCORE, Anchorage Digital aims to support a broader spectrum of Hyperliquid activity. This includes access to its decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem through Porto and custody services for additional HyperEVM tokens, such as Kinetiq.

Hyperliquid, a layer 1 blockchain powering a decentralized exchange, utilizes a unique architecture bifurcated between HyperEVM for Ethereum-style smart contracts and HyperCORE for native staking. This latest development follows Anchorage Digital's recent partnership with Mezo, a DeFi platform focused on Bitcoin-backed lending.

Anchorage Digital: A Pioneer in Crypto Banking

Founded in 2017 and based in San Francisco, Anchorage Digital Bank stands as the only federally chartered crypto bank in the United States. It operates in conjunction with the broader Anchorage Digital platform. Anchorage Digital's latest initiative reflects a broader industry trend toward integrating DeFi infrastructure and yield-generating staking into institutional-grade platforms, with more custodians and infrastructure providers offering controlled access to staking and other on-chain services.

Institutional DeFi Gaining Momentum

In October, Crypto.com announced that its users could lend wrapped cryptocurrencies and earn stablecoin yields through Morpho, a decentralized lending protocol. Morpho plans to launch stablecoin markets on the Cronos blockchain, with initial vaults anticipated to launch later this year. In September, Coinbase followed suit by adding support for Morpho directly within the Coinbase app. This integration allows users to lend USDC (USDC) and earn yields of up to 10.8% without navigating external DeFi platforms or separate wallets.

In November, the crypto infrastructure firm Threshold upgraded its tBTC bridge, enabling institutions to mint tBTC on supported chains in a single Bitcoin transaction, eliminating the need for extra approvals or gas fees. The company stated that these enhancements are designed to simplify the process for large Bitcoin (BTC) holders to deploy their assets into DeFi protocols instead of leaving them idle.

A report from Binance Research revealed that DeFi lending protocols experienced growth exceeding 72% between January and September 3rd. This surge is attributed to increased institutional adoption of stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs).