What ICE and Trade.xyz are building
Intercontinental Exchange joined with one of the operators behind the offshore platform Hyperliquid to try to bring perpetual futures into U.S. regulated markets. The planned marketplace will run on Hyperliquid's technology and list Trade.xyz's perp contracts tied to equities, equity indexes, commodities and currencies, subject to regulators signing off.
The design calls for the venue to include its own clearing, along with know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering controls. Under the deal, ICE, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, will take an equity interest in Trade.xyz, while declining to disclose the terms. Posts on X indicate billionaire Stan Druckenmiller has also put money into Trade.xyz.
Hyperliquid started as a niche exchange popular with crypto-native traders and has since become a top destination for perpetual futures - the around-the-clock, leveraged contracts with no expiry. Trade.xyz broadened Hyperliquid's approach beyond crypto by launching perpetuals linked to oil, equity indices, and other commodity markets.
The regulatory lane for perps is opening
Earlier this year, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, led by Chairman Michael Selig, outlined when regulated U.S. platforms may offer access to perps. A CFTC spokesperson said last month, "The CFTC believes on-chain finance is an important part of the next frontier of finance and wants it to thrive in the US in a legal and compliant manner."
Some firms already list these contracts on U.S.-regulated venues. Kalshi and Coinbase have perps live, and last month Kalshi won approval to offer perps linked to gold and silver. In September, Payward, Kraken's parent, said it plans to offer U.S. clients perpetual futures using Hyperliquid's blockchain, pending regulatory clearance.
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For now, Hyperliquid operates outside the U.S. and does not officially serve American traders, and Trade.xyz faces the same access limits. The two have lobbied regulators to allow pre-IPO perps in the U.S., arguing the instruments could modernize the traditional IPO process by improving price discovery.
Why it matters for markets and your portfolio
Perps differ from standard futures, which have fixed expiry dates and are used for speculation and hedging. With no expiration and 24/7 trading, perps have become especially popular with retail investors betting on crypto and commodity prices. Trading activity in perps referencing traditional asset classes has climbed sharply this year, drawing in market-makers and hedge funds, though most access still runs through offshore venues such as Hyperliquid.
ICE CEO Jeff Sprecher put the move in context on Thursday's earnings call: "We see these perp markets as additive to our futures markets, not a replacement for them." He added, "Trade.xyz brings expertise in retail perpetual markets on the Hyperliquid blockchain, and ICE provides the regulated risk management oversight that ties them together." In plain English: the partnership gives Trade.xyz a path to potentially list perps inside the U.S., while ICE could pull trading now happening offshore into its regulated orbit and, potentially, closer to your brokerage screen.
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