Overview
- Phantom Technologies and the Hyperliquid Policy Center filed a joint comment with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on July 9, 2026 asking the agency to update how existing derivatives rules apply to blockchain-native infrastructure.
- The filing asks the CFTC to confirm that publishing or developing onchain protocol software alone should not trigger registration designed for brokers, exchanges, or clearinghouses because developers do not custody funds or execute customer orders.
- The groups requested a clear pathway for registered Designated Contract Markets, Derivatives Clearing Organizations and Futures Commission Merchants to use onchain functions for matching, execution, margining, settlement, clearing and default management.
- Phantom and Hyperliquid asked the commission to convert Phantom’s March no-action relief into a formal rule to give non‑custodial wallets and front ends lasting legal certainty instead of temporary, revocable relief.
- The filing warns that without codified clarity builders and platforms may move offshore and says clearer CFTC rules could allow U.S. users and regulated firms to access onchain derivatives under U.S. oversight, reducing cost and counterparty risk.