Key Highlights
- Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, is partnering with Trade.xyz to build a regulated U.S. market for perpetual futures on Hyperliquid infrastructure.
- The planned venue would offer round-the-clock trading in equities, equity indices, commodities, foreign exchange, and cryptocurrencies through participating brokers, with full KYC and AML controls and ICE as the exclusive operator, while Trade.xyz’s existing offshore markets continue in parallel.
- News of the partnership sparked upward momentum in Hyperliquid’s HYPE token with a 12% gain.
Intercontinental Exchange Inc., the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, is partnering with Trade.xyz to establish a regulated U.S. market for perpetual futures built on Hyperliquid infrastructure. The plan is subject to Commodity Futures Trading Commission approval.
ICE is making a strategic investment in Trade.xyz. The size and terms of the stake were not disclosed. Investor Stan Druckenmiller is also participating as part of a small group of outside market figures supporting the effort.
ICE as Operator, Hyperliquid as Backend
The companies intend to create a separate U.S. market with its own exchange and clearing infrastructure running on Hyperliquid blockchain network. According to some reports, planned contracts would cover equities, equity indices, commodities, foreign exchange, and cryptocurrencies. Access would come through participating brokers and platforms rather than direct access to existing offshore markets.
The venue is designed to operate around the clock with full know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering controls. ICE is likely to work as the exclusive operator of the regulated markets. Trade.xyz’s existing Hyperliquid markets, which have surpassed $650 billion in volume in just over a year, will continue to run in parallel.
Perpetual futures, or perps, are leveraged contracts with no expiration date. Traders can hold positions indefinitely while funding rates periodically balance long and short interest. Trade.xyz has specialized in deploying these contracts for real-world assets on Hyperliquid, including the first official S&P 500 perpetual.
CFTC Approval is the Gatekeeper
All aspects of the new market, including support for leveraged trading, require CFTC approvals. Timing, product specifics, and eligibility criteria have not been announced. The companies said they will provide further details as the approval process advances.
Hyperliquid has grown into one of the largest decentralized platforms for perpetual futures but has kept its core markets off-limits to U.S. residents. According to DeFiLlama, the total value locked on the network is currently around $8.24 billion, with cumulative perp volume of $5.61 trillion.
Payward, the parent of Kraken, has outlined plans to offer regulated Hyperliquid-based perpetual futures to U.S. clients through its CFTC-regulated entities, subject to approval.
ICE CEO Jeffrey Sprecher previously noted that the company had held multiple discussions with Hyperliquid as it evaluated on-chain perpetual markets. The new partnership formalizes a path to bring similar products under a U.S.-regulated structure.
HYPE Soars 12% as Traders Digest the News
The news of the partnership triggered a sharp rise in Hyperliquid’s native token, HYPE, which climbed roughly 12% in just a few hours following the announcement. According to Coingecko, HYPE is currently trading at around $91.69 with a total market capitalization of around $21.68 billion, according to Coingecko.
ICE called the initiative a way to serve a large global retail trading population that seeks short-duration, 24/7 exposure across multiple asset classes and is currently underserved by existing U.S.-regulated venues. The exchange operator emphasized its more than 25 years of experience running regulated markets, clearing, and risk management.
Trade.xyz highlighted that its offshore markets have become reference points for continuous price discovery when traditional venues are closed. The U.S. effort aims to extend similar access under full regulatory oversight.
The partnership is one of the major steps by a major traditional exchange operator to incorporate decentralized infrastructure into a compliant U.S. derivatives market. However, it still requires regulatory approvals and clearance.
