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SEC Meets Hyperliquid Team to Discuss Decentralized Perpetuals

The session opened official dialogue that clarifies regulatory questions about which actors would bear registration and compliance duties.

Overview

  • SEC Crypto Task Force staff held a formal meeting with Hyperliquid Policy Center representatives, XYZ/TradeXYZ and lawyers from Sullivan & Cromwell on July 14 to review the HIP-3 protocol and on-chain perpetual markets.
  • The agency memorandum shows the meeting was engagement only and did not grant approval or create a regulatory pathway for U.S. trading of HIP-3 products.
  • HIP-3 intentionally splits roles so independent deployers set market rules and risk controls while HyperCore handles order matching and execution, raising novel questions about who counts as an exchange or intermediary.
  • Hyperliquid is pursuing parallel outreach to the CFTC, including a July 9 submission asking regulators to treat software developers differently from firms that accept orders or custody funds.
  • TradeXYZ remains blocked for U.S. users and wider U.S. access would require formal rulemaking, exemptive relief, or a registered venue to assume core listing, surveillance and custody duties, with potential knock-on effects for stablecoin and exchange economics.