Hyperliquid Policy Center (HPC) said it has submitted a policy statement for a meeting of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Agricultural Advisory Committee, calling for support for U.S. users participating in onchain derivatives markets and for a gradual regulatory approach to products such as perpetual futures.
In the statement, HPC tied its argument to the roots of the U.S. derivatives market in agriculture. It said grain exchanges in the American Midwest used futures contracts in the 19th century to help farmers and merchants discover prices and manage the risks tied to future delivery. From 1922, futures market oversight in the U.S. remained under the Department of Agriculture for a long period, before Congress created the CFTC in 1974 and assigned oversight of the agency to the agriculture committees in the House and Senate.
HPC says derivatives policy should stay focused on actual market users
HPC said modern derivatives regulation should still be built around the people and businesses that use these markets. Agricultural producers and processors have long been key constituencies served by the CFTC, and the needs of market participants for product choice, risk management tools, and market innovation should also be part of how regulation evolves.
The group said perpetual futures have become an important derivatives innovation in the digital asset era. It added that the committee’s discussion of product choice, gaps in risk management, and market modernization is closely related to current efforts by regulators to explore a framework for onchain derivatives.
Three main arguments in the filing
HPC laid out three primary points in its submission to the CFTC:
- Market choice is essential to risk management. HPC said users in agricultural and other derivatives markets need a broader set of tools. In its view, past experience restricting innovative products shows that shutting down market choice without sufficient evaluation can impose costs.
- A phased approach to perpetual futures regulation is a reasonable direction. HPC said the development of new derivatives products should be driven by end-user demand rather than by regulatory assumptions alone.
- Public blockchains can improve financial infrastructure efficiency. HPC said blockchain technology can modernize clearing and settlement systems, improve collateral mobility, and still meet the Commodity Exchange Act’s requirements on market integrity and risk protection.