Acting editor-in-chief
Gary McFarlane
Acting editor-in-chief
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HYLQ Strategy Corp has completed a strategic digital asset investment in qLABS, acquiring qONE tokens in an over-the-counter transaction with the Quantum Labs Foundation.
The qONE token trades on the booming Hyperliquid platform and is the native token of the qLABS ecosystem. HYLQ Strategy is the second public company to invest in quantum-safe tokens. qLABS partner 01 Quantum, as a founding member, is also a holder of qONE tokens.
According to the terms of the agreement shared in a company press release, HYLQ purchased 18,333,334 qONE tokens for an aggregate purchase price of $0.006 in an investment totalling $100,000, inclusive of bonus tokens.
The transaction was executed directly with the Quantum Labs Foundation and settled in USDC. This strategic investment represents HYLQ’s commitment to supporting quantum-resistant infrastructure within the Hyperliquid ecosystem, making this the first institutional investment in quantum-safe cryptographic solutions built natively on Hyperliquid.
qLABS is the world’s first quantum-native crypto foundation, developing blockchain solutions resistant to quantum computing threats.
qLABS Launching Quantum-Safe Protection for Digital Assets
The foundation will launch the Quantum-Sig smart contract wallet to provide quantum-safe protection for digital assets at the user and asset level.
A separate L1 Migration Toolkit is in the works. Its design will help Layer-1 blockchains transition their core infrastructure to quantum-resistant cryptography ahead of Q-Day. Q-Day is the anticipated moment when quantum computers will have the compute power to break cryptographic systems.
The qONE token, launched on Hyperliquid on 6 February 2026, serves as the ecosystem utility token, granting access to quantum-resilient wallet functions, protocol governance, and the broader quantum-safe infrastructure developed by qLABS.
qLABS leverages IronCAP™ by 01 Quantum Inc. (TSXV: ONE), a NIST-approved post-quantum cryptography system.
HYLQ Strategy CEO Matt Zahab, commenting on the company’s investment in qLABS’ Quantum Labs Foundation, said:
“As quantum computing advances toward Q-Day, protecting crypto assets from quantum threats is becoming increasingly critical.”
He added: “qLABS is building essential quantum-resistant infrastructure natively on Hyperliquid, addressing a systemic risk that threatens the entire blockchain industry. This investment aligns perfectly with HYLQ’s mandate to support innovative companies within the Hyperliquid ecosystem that are building foundational infrastructure for the future of decentralized finance.”
HYLQ Stock Price is up 28.5% YTD
Year-to-date, HYLQ Strategy (HYLQ:CNSX CA) stock is up 28.5% at CAD0.90. In addition to its primary Canadian listing, the stock also trades over-the-counter in the US (HYLQF: OTCMKTS US). HYLQ is not to be confused with the competing digital asset treasury company, Hyperliquid Strategies (PURR), which trades on the Nasdaq.
How qONE’s staking plans could provide an income stream for HYLQ shareholders
According to Ada Jonuse, Executive Director at qLABS, qONE owners will be able to stake their tokens to earn yield and acquire protocol governance rights.
This means that HYLQ – at some point in the future – may be able to generate yield for its shareholders as a direct result of its $100,000 investment in qONE. An exact date for staking going live is yet to be revealed.
“Staking and governance participation are features to be enabled further down the roadmap when our core products are live and implemented in a full operational environment,” Jonuse explains.
“Because our 100% focus lies on security, in the early stage of the ecosystem, key decisions will be taken by the core team with gradual decentralization envisioned over the years.”
The centralization risk is acknowledged and mitigated through staking-based governance participation, time-weighted and activity-weighted voting, and progressive decentralization as emissions and unlocks occur.
Governance is expected to decentralize meaningfully as protocol usage grows.
Staking rewards will be set dynamically, which means yield is determined by the size of the staking pool, protocol usage, and fee generation, as well as the staker’s proportional contribution.
Jonuse says this approach “aligns incentives with real economic activity rather than fixed inflation.”
The price of the qONE token has been on a bullish run since launch, but the discounted token price offered to HYLQ triggered a sharp pullback, followed by an equally sharp bounceback. qONE was trading at $$0.01569 in the European morning session.
Why launching qONE on Hyperliquid was probably a smart move
Since last year’s 10 October record liquidation event, which wiped out $19 billion in value and marked the start of the current bear market, Hyperliquid and its native HYPE token have decoupled from other crypto assets.
While Bitcoin and Ethereum struggle with institutional outflows, retail investor apathy, and stagnant price action, HYPE surged to new highs, recently trading around $30.05.
YTD Performance Comparison (1 Jan – 17 Feb 2026)
| Asset | Price (1 Jan 2026) | Price (17 Feb 2026) | YTD Return |
| HYPE | ~$25.00 | $30.05 | +20.2% |
| Bitcoin (BTC) | $88,731.99 | $68,000.00 | -23.4% |
| Ethereum (ETH) | ~$3,000.00 | $1,988.56 | -33.7% |
Launching on Hyperliquid is looking increasingly like a very smart move by the qLABS team. As Jonuse points out, “Hyperliquid is a top player in DeFi and soon a venue for trading pretty much all assets on-chain.
“While Quantum-Sig wallet technology will protect any EVM or Solana assets, and our core innovation can be used to upgrade any smart contract-based chain, we are launching on Hyperliquid to highlight the importance of this chain.
“Launching $qONE on Hyperliquid positions us at the intersection of cutting-edge security infrastructure and an actively expanding ecosystem, allowing $qONE to benefit not only from technical alignment but also from narrative-driven adoption and visibility.”
