Overview
- In July Hyperliquid’s policy arm and partner Phantom formally asked the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to clarify that on-chain software developers should not automatically face exchange or clearinghouse registration.
- Hyperliquid is also engaging the SEC’s crypto team while exploring partnerships or structural arrangements that would let regulated U.S. firms offer perpetuals using its markets.
- The platform continues to block U.S. users and has not won regulatory approval to operate domestically, so any U.S. access would likely flow through third-party, regulated firms rather than Hyperliquid opening its front end to Americans.
- Regulatory and market pressure is rising because Hyperliquid commands roughly a third of on-chain perpetual volume and about 32% of Q2 trades were tied to stocks and other real-world assets, which could trigger both CFTC and SEC oversight.
- An alternate route for U.S. investors is taking shape as Grayscale, Bitwise, and 21Shares have filed for spot HYPE ETFs, and incumbent exchanges such as CME and ICE have urged regulators to impose tighter controls that will shape how any U.S. pathway develops.