7. Related Parties

The Trust considered the following entities, their directors, and certain employees to be related parties of the Trust as of September 30, 2026: Digital Currency Group, Inc. (“DCG”), Grayscale Operating, LLC (“GSO”), GSIS, and Grayscale Securities, LLC. As of September 30, 2026, 30,422 Shares of the Trust were held by related parties of the Trust.

In accordance with the Trust Agreement governing the Trust, the Trust pays a fee to the Sponsor, calculated as 0.29% of the aggregate value of the Trust’s assets, less its liabilities (which include any accrued but unpaid expenses up to, but excluding, the date of calculation),

as calculated and published by the Sponsor or its delegates in the manner set forth in the Trust Agreement (the “Sponsor’s Fee”). The Sponsor’s Fee accrues daily in U.S. dollars and is payable in HYPE daily in arrears. The amount of HYPE payable in respect of each daily U.S. dollar accrual will be determined by reference to the same U.S. dollar value of HYPE used to determine such accrual. For purposes of these financial statements, the U.S. dollar value of HYPE is determined by reference to the global trading platform market for the trading of HYPE (“Digital Asset Trading Platform Market”) that the Trust considers its principal market as of 4:00 p.m., New York time, on each valuation date. The Trust held no rights to acquire, or otherwise establish dominion and control over, any virtual currency or other asset or right which are incident to the Trust’s ownership of HYPE and arise without any action of the Trust, or of the Sponsor or Trustee on behalf of the Trust (“Incidental Rights”) or any virtual currency token, or other asset or right, acquired by the Trust through the exercise (subject to the applicable provisions of the Trust Agreement) of any Incidental Right (“IR Virtual Currency”) as of September 30, 2026. No Incidental Rights or IR Virtual Currencies have been distributed in payment of the Sponsor’s Fee during the three months ended September 30, 2026 and the period from June 3, 2026 (the commencement of the Trust's operations) to September 30, 2026.

Effective June 3, 2026, and pursuant to the Staking Arrangements, the Custodian and the applicable Staking Provider are entitled to receive a portion of the gross staking rewards generated thereunder, representing the Validator Fees, with the remaining staking rewards received by the Trust. The Sponsor is entitled to receive a fee equal to a portion of the staking rewards, payable in HYPE, which accrues daily in U.S. dollars and is calculated as a per annum percentage of the staking rewards received by the Trust, as directed by the Sponsor in its sole discretion (the “Sponsor’s Staking Fee”). The Sponsor’s Staking Fee is payable daily in arrears. The Sponsor’s Staking Fee and the Validator Fees together represent an aggregate of 25% of the gross staking rewards generated under the Staking Arrangements. A portion of the gross staking rewards is paid to non-related parties and the Trust receives and retains the remainder of such gross staking rewards.

As partial consideration for receipt of the Sponsor’s Fee, the Sponsor is obligated under the Trust Agreement to assume and pay all fees and other expenses incurred by the Trust in the ordinary course of its affairs, excluding taxes, but including marketing fees; administrator fees, if any; custodian fees; transfer agent fees; trustee fees; the fees and expenses related to the listing, quotation or trading of the Shares on any secondary market (including customary legal, marketing and audit fees and expenses) in an amount up to $600,000 in any given fiscal year; ordinary course legal fees and expenses; audit fees; regulatory fees, including, if applicable, any fees relating to the registration of the Shares under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”); printing and mailing costs; the costs of maintaining the Trust’s website and applicable license fees (together, the “Sponsor-paid Expenses”), provided that any expense that qualifies as an Additional Trust Expense will be deemed to be an Additional Trust Expense and not a Sponsor-paid Expense.

The Trust may incur certain extraordinary, non-recurring expenses that are not Sponsor-paid Expenses, including, but not limited to, taxes and governmental charges, expenses and costs of any extraordinary services performed by the Sponsor (or any other service provider) on behalf of the Trust to protect the Trust or the interests of shareholders, any indemnification of the Custodian or other agents, service providers or counterparties of the Trust, the fees and expenses related to the listing, quotation or trading of the Shares on any secondary market (including legal, marketing and audit fees and expenses) to the extent exceeding $600,000 in any given fiscal year and extraordinary legal fees and expenses, including any legal fees and expenses incurred in connection with litigation, regulatory enforcement or investigation matters (collectively “Additional Trust Expenses”). In such circumstances, the Sponsor or its delegate (i) will instruct the Custodian to withdraw HYPE from a segregated custody account controlled and secured by the Custodian to store private keys, which allow for the transfer of ownership or control of the Trust’s HYPE on the Trust’s behalf (“Vault Balance”) in such quantity as may be necessary to permit payment of such Additional Trust Expenses and (ii) may either (x) cause the Trust (or its delegate) to convert such HYPE into U.S. dollars or other fiat currencies at the price per single unit of such HYPE, determined net of any associated fees, at which the Trust is able to sell such HYPE for U.S. dollars (or other applicable fiat currency) at such time to enable the Trust to timely pay any Additional Trust Expenses, through use of the Sponsor’s commercially reasonable efforts to obtain the highest such price (“Actual Exchange Rate”) or (y) when the Sponsor incurs such expenses on behalf of the Trust, cause the Trust (or its delegate) to deliver such HYPE in kind to the Sponsor, in each case in such quantity as may be necessary to permit payment of such Additional Trust Expenses.

For the three months ended September 30, 2026, the Trust incurred Sponsor’s Fees of $107,844. For the period from June 3, 2026 (the commencement of the Trust's operations) to September 30, 2026, the Trust incurred Sponsor’s Fees of $114,195. As of September 30, 2026, there were no accrued and unpaid Sponsor’s Fees. In addition, the Sponsor may pay Additional Trust Expenses on behalf of the Trust, which are reimbursable by the Trust to the Sponsor. For the three months ended September 30, 2026 and the period from June 3, 2026 (the commencement of the Trust's operations) to September 30, 2026, the Sponsor did not pay any Additional Trust Expenses on behalf of the Trust.

For the three months ended September 30, 2026, the Trust incurred Sponsor’s Staking Fees of $155,914. For the period from June 3, 2026 (the commencement of the Trust's operations) to September 30, 2026, the Trust incurred Sponsor’s Staking Fees of $162,278.

On June 2, 2026, the Sponsor (in such capacity, the “Seed Capital Investor”), purchased 20,000 Shares at a per-Share price of $25.00 (the “Seed Baskets”), for total proceeds to the Trust of $500,000. The Sponsor did not receive from the Trust, or any of its affiliates, any fee or other compensation in connection with the initial seed sale.