Hyperliquid Urges SEC, CFTC to Harmonize Perpetual Contract Rules

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.

Crypto perpetual futures, contracts without an expiry date, have become a major source of leveraged trading but remain concentrated on offshore venues. The regulatory question is whether the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission can divide oversight without imposing duplicative costs that deter domestic liquidity. Kalshi estimates offshore perpetuals volume exceeded $90 trillion in 2025, up from about $28 trillion in 2023, underscoring both the market’s scale and the risk of leaving it largely outside U.S. supervision.

A bipartisan group including former CFTC Chair Chris Giancarlo, former commissioners Brian Quintenz and Sharon Brown-Hruska, former SEC Commissioner Steven Wallman and former SEC Chief Economist Chester Spatt urged a risk-based approach in a comment letter reported on Aug. 31, 2026. The SEC and CFTC sought input in June on definitions and jurisdiction for swaps and emerging derivatives as the CLARITY Act remained stalled during recess. Separately, the SEC sent revised crypto-custody rules to White House review in late August, while comments on its “Reg Crypto” proposal are due Oct. 20.

Hyperliquid began as a decentralized venue focused on perpetual futures, with HyperCore running its fully onchain order books for spot and derivatives. HyperEVM adds an Ethereum-compatible smart-contract layer secured by the same HyperBFT consensus, allowing applications such as lenders and vaults to tap HyperCore liquidity without relying on a separate bridge. That composability turns trading infrastructure into DeFi “money LEGOs,” broadening Hyperliquid from an exchange into a platform whose liquidity can reinforce new products and network effects.

As of July 22, 2026, 726 third-party applications were using Hyperliquid builder codes, with wallets including MetaMask and Phantom embedding perpetual-futures trading directly into their products. Public data showed the program had paid builders $89.68 million since launch and was distributing about $189,000 a day, while roughly 27,000 users placed orders through third-party interfaces daily. The figures indicate that Hyperliquid’s open architecture is converting developer integrations into wider distribution, fee income and additional order flow for its core markets.

Decentralized exchange Hyperliquid is challenging traditional Wall Street finance with onchain perpetual contracts. The platform aims to remove trading restrictions on traditional assets as it expands beyond cryptocurrencies into derivatives tied to stocks, commodities and other conventional financial instruments. The technology enables round-the-clock trading while sharply lowering barriers to entry and intermediary costs, making it strategically important to the integration of onchain finance into global capital markets and their broader transformation.

According to a report published by crypto venture capital firm Pantera Capital in July 2026, Hyperliquid’s potential daily notional trading volume could reach $10 trillion. The report estimated that a low-single-digit share of traditional financial markets could increase the platform’s annual revenue fivefold, from the current $800 million to $3.7 billion. Regulatory risk remains the biggest uncertainty, however, and Hyperliquid could face fierce competition from established players such as Intercontinental Exchange, or ICE.

Hyperliquid is a decentralized exchange focused on onchain perpetual contracts. Open interest measures the total value of positions that remain unsettled and is a key gauge of capital flows and trading activity. Through the HIP-3 proposal, the platform also allows third parties to deploy markets, expanding its offerings beyond crypto assets to synthetic products linked to technology stocks, equity indexes and oil.

As of July 2026, open interest on Hyperliquid had surpassed $10 billion, with crypto assets still providing most of the growth. Institutional digital-asset trading firm Talos said the platform's equity-linked markets were also expanding rapidly. A significant share of its stock, index and commodity trading takes place outside regular U.S. market hours, highlighting demand for round-the-clock onchain markets.

On March 16, 2026, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on prediction markets, RIN 3038-AF65, seeking input on market oversight and the public-interest boundaries governing event contracts. The Hyperliquid Policy Center was concerned that rules based on assumptions about centralized exchanges could leave non-custodial onchain markets without a lawful path to operate.

On April 30, 2026, the consultation deadline, HPC submitted a 15-page comment letter, CFTC No. 115408. It called for flexible, function-based rules, a clear legal pathway for U.S. users to participate in decentralized prediction markets and support for U.S. onchain financial innovation. The letter did not discuss any investment amount; its policy objective was to provide regulatory certainty for Hyperliquid and HIP-4 outcome markets.