The Only Hedera Spot ETF Has Absorbed 1.3% of HBAR Supply

Canary Capital's HBAR Spot ETF (Nasdaq: HBR), the first and only U.S. spot ETF offering direct exposure to Hedera's native token, now holds approximately 549 million HBAR. That's about 1.3% of the roughly 43 billion tokens currently in circulation, drawn from a total fixed supply of 50 billion. For a fund that's been live for barely four months, those numbers carry more weight than they appear.

The ETF launched on October 28, 2025, and hit the ground running with $29.9 million in inflows on its second trading day alone. As of February 24, 2026, assets under management sit at around $52.7 million, with cumulative net inflows reaching $91.9 million since inception. That gap between total inflows and current AUM tells you everything about what HBAR's price has done since late October.

How Does One ETF Lock Up That Much Supply?

HBR holds actual HBAR tokens in cold storage through BitGo and Coinbase Custody. It doesn't use derivatives or leverage. When money flows in, the fund buys real tokens off the market and locks them in institutional vaults. When money flows out, tokens get sold. Simple.

The math is straightforward. At HBAR's current price near $0.10, the fund's AUM translates to roughly 549 million tokens sitting in custody. That's a non-trivial chunk of liquid supply being pulled off the open market and parked in regulated infrastructure.

For context, Bitcoin spot ETFs showed a similar pattern early on: steady institutional accumulation gradually tightened available supply. The difference is scale. With HBAR's market cap around $4.2 billion versus Bitcoin's in the trillions, even modest inflows have an outsized impact on token availability.

Why Does Supply Absorption Matter?

The daily inflow on February 24 was $655,170. That's not a headline number. But consistency compounds.

Since launch, HBR has maintained a mostly steady stream of buying pressure. There have been outflow days, like the $1.71 million exit on November 14, 2025, but the overall trend has been accumulation. Worth noting: those $91.9 million in cumulative inflows against a current AUM of $52.7 million mean a lot of investors bought at higher HBAR prices and are currently underwater. If sentiment turns further south, redemption pressure could reverse the supply dynamic.

Analysts point out that if additional HBAR-focused ETFs get approved, the combined absorption could meaningfully tighten the circulating supply. There are currently 15 active Hedera ETF filings under review at the SEC, including from firms like Bitwise and Grayscale. Some filings even include provisions for staking the underlying HBAR tokens, which would add yield on top of price exposure.

What's Happening in the Hedera Ecosystem?

The ETF doesn't exist in a vacuum. Hedera has been stacking enterprise credibility.

On February 13, 2026, FedEx joined the Hedera Governing Council. The $90 billion revenue company will operate a node on the network and hold equal governance voting rights. The council now reads like a Fortune 500 roster:

• Google
• IBM
• Dell Technologies
• LG
• Deutsche Telekom
• FedEx

Enterprise adoption doesn't guarantee price appreciation, but it validates network utility for institutional investors evaluating whether HBAR belongs in regulated products.

The fund charges an expense ratio of 0.95%, and shares trade on Nasdaq through standard brokerage accounts. No wallets, no seed phrases, no self-custody headaches. That accessibility is the whole point for institutional capital that wants HBAR exposure without touching the underlying infrastructure.

What Should You Watch Going Forward?

HBAR is trading around $0.10 after falling roughly 75% from its early 2025 highs near $0.40. The broader altcoin market is in risk-off mode, and technical indicators lean bearish in the near term.

The key variables are SEC decisions on competing HBAR ETF filings, whether staking provisions get greenlit, and whether cumulative ETF supply absorption starts creating noticeable liquidity pressure. If even two or three more spot HBAR ETFs go live, analysts estimate the collective holdings could exceed 10% of total supply within a few years.

For now, one fund quietly buying tokens every day is doing more for HBAR's supply dynamics than most of the market realizes.

Sources:

• SoSoValue HBAR Spot ETF tracker with daily AUM, inflow, and flow data
• Canary Capital Official HBR ETF product page with fund details and performance
• TradingView HBR fund overview with AUM, flows, expense ratio, and premium/discount data
• FedEx Newsroom Official press release on FedEx joining the Hedera Council
• CoinGecko Hedera live price, market cap, and circulating supply data
• Laika AI Overview of Hedera ETF landscape and active SEC filings
• Morningstar Canary Capital suite overview including HBR launch details