The owner of the New York Stock Exchange wants to give U.S. traders a regulated route into markets built on Hyperliquid. Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) announced an agreement with Trade[XYZ] on October 29 to develop perpetual futures markets. Regulatory approvals are still required; the announcement gives no opening date. [1]
A perpetual future lets someone take a position on an asset's price without a fixed expiry date. Periodic payments between traders help keep the contract near the underlying price. These products have largely developed outside the United States, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). [2]
![Proposed U.S. market: Hyperliquid supplies technology, Trade[XYZ] designs products, and ICE operates markets and clearing. Subject to regulatory approvals.](/images/articles/ice-hyperliquid-planned-us-route-mobile.svg)
View the proposed roles and status
| Participant | Role |
|---|---|
| Hyperliquid | Underlying technology. |
| Trade[XYZ] | Product design and implementation. |
| ICE | Regulated market operation and clearing. |
Subject to regulatory approvals. The announcement gives no opening date. This is a role diagram, not a volume or revenue forecast.
A new route through familiar brokers
ICE plans a separate retail market and clearing structure, the system that settles trades. Verified customers would enter through participating futures brokers. The planned contracts span crypto, shares, commodities and currencies. That could bring crypto-style trading to a wider audience through firms customers already use. [1]
“We see these perp markets as additive to our futures markets, not a replacement for them.”
ICE announcement [1]
The regulatory path matters because perpetual contracts are not one uniform product. In its May policy statement, the CFTC said contracts covering asset classes beyond those in its approved bitcoin order should undergo individual review. A framework for one contract does not approve this whole proposed menu. [2]
Where HYPE fits today
Hyperliquid already lets independent operators create markets under its builder-deployed perpetuals system. Operators define contracts and supply the reference prices used to run them. Current documentation requires a stake of 500,000 HYPE, the network's native token, and says that requirement may decline as the system matures. [3]
There is another existing token connection: Hyperliquid's assistance fund automatically converts trading fees into HYPE. Market operators can also retain part of the fees their products generate. More trading can therefore matter to the token through actual fee flows, rather than simply through a prominent company's involvement. [4]
Those are existing protocol rules. ICE's announcement does not specify how the proposed U.S. venue's fees would reach that fund or whether a new HYPE stake would be needed. Treating the agreement as a guaranteed token purchase would go beyond the disclosed terms. [1]
A longer trading day still carries costs
On Hyperliquid today, funding payments move between the two sides of a contract every hour. Depending on market conditions, holding a position can cost money even before trading fees. Those payments are separate from the fee revenue discussed above. [5]
Leverage adds a sharper risk. Hyperliquid can forcibly close positions when the money backing them falls below required levels; some backstop liquidations can exhaust the account's shared collateral. The proposed U.S. venue's final rules remain to be disclosed. [6]