Hyperliquid activated its Aligned Quote Asset v2 (AQAv2) framework for USDC on August 26, 2026, after 69.08% of validators cleared the 66.67% approval threshold. After operating costs, about 90% of yield from platform USDC reserves—estimated at $5 billion to $7 billion—is shared with the protocol and routed to the Assistance Fund, which buys HYPE on the open market and permanently burns the tokens. Circle handles technical deployment and Coinbase manages treasury operations, with each staking 500,000 HYPE; reserve balances are managed automatically on-chain in a fixed 9:1 split. The first payout is scheduled for October 3, 2026, with distributions expected every 30 to 38 days after yield accrues over 30-day intervals. Market estimates put the first buyback near $20 million and potential annual AQAv2 funding at roughly $135 million to $200 million, while the existing fee-funded program has annualized revenue estimates of $600 million to $950 million. HYPE rose more than 2% after the launch to $83.08, about 0.2% below its $83.27 record, as daily volume expanded about 7%, Wintermute cut its short position from $211.53 million to $80.48 million, and futures open interest rose about 3% to $3.58 billion. Since HYPE launched in November 2024, approximately 462 million tokens worth about $1.27 billion have been burned.