Hyperliquid’s HYPE token jumped about 13% on Thursday after Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, announced plans to bring perpetual futures built on Hyperliquid to the US.
ICE has signed a definitive agreement with Trade[XYZ], a trading platform built on Hyperliquid. Under the deal, ICE becomes the exclusive operator of Trade[XYZ]’s regulated markets and takes a strategic stake in the company.
What ICE plans to build
ICE will build a dedicated retail market and clearing structure for the product. Perpetual futures are derivatives with no expiry date that let traders take leveraged positions.
Trade[XYZ] already offers eligible users outside the US round-the-clock perpetuals on stocks, stock indices, commodities and currencies, with Hyperliquid providing the underlying technology.
Verified US customers would access the product through futures commission merchants, the regulated brokers that handle futures accounts. ICE also plans to distribute it through its joint venture with crypto exchange OKX, which has its own approvals pending.
ICE says more than 99% of its current trading is institutional, so a retail product is new territory. It will run the business separately from its institutional futures and clearing operations.
“Additive to our futures markets, not a replacement for them,” is how ICE chair and chief executive Jeffrey Sprecher described the product.
Approval still needed
The product needs regulatory approval, and no launch date had been set at the time of writing. US markets must meet know-your-customer and anti-money laundering rules, and ICE will seek approvals to support leveraged trading.
Hyperliquid’s own platform remains closed to US users. In August, President Donald Trump said the CFTC was working to let Hyperliquid operate legally in the US.
The market reaction
HYPE opened Thursday at about $80.69 and climbed to roughly $91, reaching a high of $92.10. That leaves it about 7% below its September record near $98, with a market value of around $22.4 billion.
The rise came on a day when much of the crypto market fell after a suspected hack at Binance.
Investor Stan Druckenmiller, who has backed Trade[XYZ], wrote on X that he was “excited to be an investor.”
What happens next
The key step is regulatory approval for ICE’s retail product. Until then, US traders cannot access it.
