ICE CEO Jeffrey Sprecher recently stated at a conference that Hyperliquid, a decentralized perpetual contract platform, has trading activity "surpassing Nasdaq," and called its core team "very smart." This statement indicates that traditional Wall Street exchanges have begun to positively assess the influence of on-chain derivatives platforms.
The comparison points to trading activity.
Sprecher made the above statement during a conversation with Bernstein analysts on May 27. He mentioned that Hyperliquid has only a core team of about 11 people, but the platform's size has already attracted significant attention from ICE.
This comparison is not valid based on company market capitalization. Reports indicate that HYPE's token market capitalization is approximately $15.1 billion, while the Nasdaq-listed company's market capitalization is approximately $50 billion. However, he was referring not to company valuation, but rather to trading activity.
According to industry data, Hyperliquid currently holds over 70% of the decentralized perpetual contract market share, processing billions of dollars in notional trading volume daily, and has become one of the leading platforms in the on-chain derivatives market.
Weekend crude oil trading brings incremental volume
One key reason ICE is paying attention to Hyperliquid is that it offers a 24/7 trading market for crude oil derivatives. Especially when ICE's traditional energy markets are closed on weekends, Hyperliquid continues to trade.
Sprecher stated that during the recent tense situation in the Middle East, a large number of events and decisions occurred over the weekend, leading to a significant increase in the demand for risk hedging during these non-trading hours, which has also brought more attention to Hyperliquid.
JPMorgan analysts have previously mentioned a similar phenomenon, stating that some non-crypto traders are using Hyperliquid's 24/7 market to establish crude oil exposure outside of regular trading hours.
Regulatory gaps in the US and Europe are drawing attention.
Sprecher also pointed out that the existence of platforms like Hyperliquid reflects a real gap in the regulation of derivatives in the United States and Europe. Under U.S. law, these perpetual contracts are typically classified as swaps and are subject to Chapter 7 of the Dodd-Frank Act, including requirements such as transaction reporting, margin requirements, and dealer registration.
In contrast, ICE operates under the existing regulatory framework, while Hyperliquid, as an offshore, unregulated platform, is not subject to the same rules. Sprecher believes that regulators may need to choose between two paths in the coming months: either establish a new compliance category for perpetual contracts or bring offshore platforms under the existing US and EU regulatory frameworks.
This statement also reflects a broader change: as on-chain derivatives trading volume continues to grow, traditional exchanges and regulators can no longer ignore the impact of such platforms on the global market structure.
