Hyperliquid has become a wake-up call for traditional markets, prompting discussions with the crypto venue, studying its 24/7 model, and asking regulators whether U.S. exchanges can offer similar perpetual futures under clear rules. This according to Jeffrey Sprecher, founder, chairman and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange, who spoke at Bernstein’s 42nd Annual Strategic Decisions Conference Wednesday.
“We’re not freaked out about it,” Sprecher said, referring to Hyperliquid. “We’re actually talking to these people and learning about it. They’re learning what we’re doing. We’re helping them understand our world. They’re helping us understand their world.”
Hyperliquid is a crypto platform where traders can bet on price moves around the clock. Perpetual futures-or perps-let traders speculate on price direction without an expiry date. Sprecher wondered why regulated exchanges cannot offer products comparable to those already trading on crypto platforms.
On Friday, the CFTC issued an order allowing Kalshi to offer Bitcoin perpetual futures, a move that appears to bring part of that market closer to U.S. regulation. Coinbase also announced it can now connect U.S. institutional clients to global crypto options and perpetual futures liquidity through its CFTC-regulated business.
Sprecher pointed to SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite company, as a near-term test of whether prices formed on crypto venues can matter before a company lists publicly. Traders are already using perpetual futures to bet on SpaceX’s expected IPO price, with those contracts averaging nearly $18 million in daily volume over two weeks.
“If the demand exists and the technology works, let us host it safely in a regulated environment before we lose the market entirely to offshore entities,” said Fernando Lillo, marketing director at crypto trading platform Zoomex.