Hyperliquid Policy Center is urging US regulators to develop clear rules for perpetual contracts, enabling more perpetual markets to run under US regulation.
It has requested that the SEC and CFTC align their mechanism to perpetual contracts based on the products’ structure and trading mechanics.
US law categorizes financial instruments, but perpetuals’ share has both characteristics, developing regulatory uncertainty. Unlike traditional futures, perpetuals have no expiration date and use funding payments to align prices with reference assets.
The group determined as the reference asset identifies which regulator monitors a perpetual contract, while the product structure determines whether it is characterized as reference asset.
For equity perpetuals, cash settled contracts with traditional derivatives characteristics could qualify as security futures. Existing rules enable registered securities and futures exchanges to monitor security futures.
Perpetuals Rule Clarity
The argument follows current support by both agencies to verify rules for the increasing perpetual market. The CFTC authorized the first US perpetual contract enabling them to trade as futures.
The SEC and CFTC are also tracking feedback on how cash settled equity perpetuals enable security futures.
Hyperliquid Policy Center also urged regulators to provide exchanges of flexibility in listing new products and update the security futures network to manage newer contract frameworks.
The filing debates that regulators could adopt these transformations through guidance than formal rulemaking, delivering faster regulatory clarity while enabling SEC and CTFC regulated network to compete on factors such as implementation and liquidity.
Hyperliquid US Entry Outlook
The outline begins as US officials consider more perpetual trading under domestic regulation. President Donald Trump noted that CFTC Chairman Michael Selig is developing on a complaint for Hyperliquid to enter the US.
Hyperliquid Policy Center linked its demand to Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 structure, which enables deployers to develop perpetual markets. Hyperliquid handles execution, matching, margin, funding, clearing, and settlement.
Additionally, deployers set up market controls such as listed assets, contract terms, oracles, leverage and open interest limits.
Hyperliquid markets have integrated approximately $480 billion in perpetual contract volume and over $4 billion in open interest. It also managed $3 trillion in trading volume in 2025 and more than $1.5 trillion on August 23, 2026.
Selig has addressed the issue on perpetual markets to operate. The CFTC is considering how the authority can accommodate the products within US markets.
Traders can compare available features and markets on perpetual futures network prior to committing capital.
