Hyperliquid Submits Prediction-Market Regulatory Comment Letter to CFTC

Hyperliquid is a decentralized exchange built on its own Layer 1 blockchain and best known for perpetual futures, contracts that let traders make round-the-clock bets on asset prices without an expiry date. Its terms currently restrict U.S. users. A compliant domestic route would test how decentralized finance can accommodate U.S. rules on custody, customer identification, sanctions screening and investor protection while preserving access to onchain liquidity.

President Donald Trump said at a White House event on Aug. 19 that Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael Selig was working to bring Hyperliquid into the United States in a “fully compliant and legal fashion.” HYPE rose 17% over the following 24 hours. By Sept. 4, Kraken parent Payward was working with the CFTC on access through regulated exchange Bitnomial to selected perpetual futures linked to Hyperliquid markets. No investment amount, final structure or launch date has been disclosed.

Hyperliquid, a decentralized trading platform known for onchain perpetual futures, is seeking access to the United States, one of the world’s largest but most tightly regulated derivatives markets. Working through Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, could give Hyperliquid an established compliance and operating framework as it attempts to offer perpetual contracts to US traders.

Hyperliquid is in talks with Payward on a structure for bringing crypto perpetuals to the US, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Payward has submitted the proposed business framework to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the plan remains subject to regulatory approval. The companies have not disclosed financial terms, a launch date or the final scope of the arrangement.

Perpetual contracts, derivatives with no expiry date, use recurring funding payments to keep prices aligned with underlying assets. Once concentrated in cryptocurrency markets, they are expanding into equities and commodities as platforms such as Hyperliquid broaden their offerings. That growth has sharpened a central US regulatory question: whether a contract falls under the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and what compliance path applies.

The Hyperliquid Policy Center has submitted comments urging the SEC and CFTC to align how perpetual contracts are classified, supervised and enforced, seeking to prevent conflicting treatment of similar products tied to different assets. In a related push, the center and TradeXYZ called on the CFTC to create a pathway for US oil perpetuals. The reports disclosed no contract volume, dollar value or firm implementation date, leaving the agencies’ next steps uncertain.

Hyperliquid, a decentralized trading platform best known for on-chain perpetual futures and other crypto derivatives, is considering an expansion into the United States. A US entry would place the HYPE token issuer and trading venue in one of the world’s deepest capital markets, while exposing it to stricter rules governing derivatives, customer access and digital-asset platforms. The move could become an important test of how decentralized exchanges pursue growth in regulated jurisdictions.

The latest Morning Minute reported that Hyperliquid is coming to the US, but the available report did not specify a launch date, operating structure, licensing plan or investment amount. The briefing also highlighted current market moves in Bitcoin, Ether and Hyperliquid’s HYPE token alongside other major and actively traded cryptocurrencies. However, the supplied event details did not include exact prices, percentage changes or an as-of timestamp, leaving the timing and commercial scope of the expansion unconfirmed.

Hyperliquid, the decentralized derivatives platform built around its Layer 1 blockchain and HyperCore matching engine, brought HIP-4 outcome trading to mainnet in May 2026. The product uses fully collateralized, non-leveraged contracts tied to event outcomes, extending the venue beyond perpetual futures. Opening market creation to outside builders is important to expanding the catalog and sharpening competition with established prediction-market operators including Polymarket and Kalshi.

Hyperliquid said on July 19, 2026, that a future network upgrade will allow third parties to deploy HIP-4 markets without individual listing approval, starting on testnet before moving to mainnet; no launch date was disclosed. Deployers must stake 500,000 HYPE for six months and use validator-approved templates. Stakes may be slashed for poorly defined or incorrectly settled markets, while deployers can receive as much as 50% of the trading fees generated by their markets.

Hyperliquid is a decentralized exchange focused on on-chain perpetual contracts and allows users to trade without know-your-customer checks, giving it an advantage that regulated centralized platforms struggle to replicate. The issue carries particular weight because Binance reached a settlement of more than $4.3 billion with the U.S. government in November 2023 over anti-money-laundering and sanctions violations. CZ pleaded guilty and served four months in prison, giving him firsthand experience of compliance risks.

Galaxy Research head Alex Thorn posted a 38-second clip from a Galaxy Brains interview on X on June 16, 2026. CZ called Hyperliquid an “awesome invention” and said Binance could not compete with its no-KYC niche. He added that he would never take the same approach and joked that its team should have good lawyers. HYPE briefly reached a record high of $76.70 that day.

Hyperliquid began as an onchain venue for crypto perpetual futures. Through HIP-3, it now allows builders to launch round-the-clock markets for equities, commodities, foreign exchange and Pre-IPO assets, while HIP-4 marks its entry into event prediction. The strategy brings crypto assets, RWAs and outcome contracts under a single account, expanding its competitive field from CME Group to Kalshi and Polymarket.

HIP-4 went live on May 2, 2026, followed on May 25 by offchain event markets settled by validators. The first markets covered May's year-on-year CPI rate and the Federal Reserve's June interest-rate decision. FalconX said the 21Shares and Bitwise HYPE spot ETFs recorded combined net inflows of $53 million over several days. Hyperliquid's USDC partnership with Coinbase and Circle is estimated to generate $160 million in annual revenue.

Hyperliquid is a Singapore-based decentralized perpetual futures platform offering anonymous, round-the-clock leveraged trading. Through HIP-3, it has expanded into synthetic markets linked to stocks, commodities and crude oil. Because the platform is not subject to traditional U.S. and European derivatives rules, weekend oil trading could affect global benchmark prices, putting market integrity and regulatory fairness in focus.

On May 15, 2026, CME Group and ICE warned the CFTC and congressional officials that anonymous trading could be manipulated by insiders or exploited by sanctioned countries. Hyperliquid countered that all trading activity is recorded on-chain. On May 27, ICE CEO Jeffrey Sprecher said the platform handled billions of dollars in daily notional trading volume and accounted for more than 70% of the decentralized perpetual futures market, despite having a core team of only 11 people.

Hyperliquid, best known for onchain perpetual futures trading, is expanding into outcome tokens tied to real-world events through HIP-4. The prediction-market sector is led by Polymarket and regulated platform Kalshi. Hyperliquid’s new product will rely on validator-governed settlement rather than external oracles, testing whether it can bring its existing liquidity into the event-contract market.

As of July 19, 2026, Hyperliquid had disclosed HIP-4’s fee structure, under which traders will pay no opening fee when establishing a position, reducing the initial cost of entry. A formal launch date and the amount of capital to be committed have not been announced. The latest plan focuses on wagers on macroeconomic outcomes, with settlement handled through validator consensus, putting Hyperliquid in direct competition with Polymarket and Kalshi for users and liquidity.