A policy advocacy group tied to Hyperliquid has formally asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to adopt a common enforcement framework for perpetual contracts, arguing that the two agencies should stop competing over jurisdiction.
The Liquidity Policy Center, or HPC, submitted the comment letter to the SEC and CFTC on Aug. 25. In the filing, the group said the current regulatory setup sorts products by the type of underlying asset, which leaves bitcoin perpetual contracts under one framework while equity-linked or commodity-linked perpetuals can fall under others.
HPC argues for structure-based oversight
HPC said the dividing line should be based on the economic structure of the contract itself rather than the asset classification attached to it. The group’s position is that a unified enforcement standard would reduce jurisdictional disputes between agencies and give exchanges a more predictable competitive environment.
Securities futures cited as a precedent
The letter points to securities futures products as an example. According to the filing, futures are currently overseen jointly by the SEC and CFTC, and a firm registered with one agency can enter the other agency’s market through a notice registration process.
HPC said that system was originally built for traditional products with relatively low commercial trading volume. Without clearer classification standards showing which products can be listed by firms registered with a particular regulator, some disputes involving financial products could end up being settled through litigation, the group said.
Letter arrives as legal pressure builds
The submission lands at a time when perpetual futures are drawing legal challenges from incumbent market operators. According to the report, CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange have raised concerns that platforms including Hyperliquid could create price manipulation risks, and they want the platform registered with the CFTC.
In June this year, CME directly sued the CFTC after the agency approved perpetual futures trading by Coinbase and Kalshi. The report described those products as the first of their kind approved for the U.S. market.
Hyperliquid’s scale draws attention
Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 market offers perpetual contracts tied to Ether, crude oil, gold, foreign exchange, stock indexes, single stocks, and exchange-traded funds.
The letter said HIP-3 has surpassed $480 billion in cumulative trading volume in the 10 months since launch, with open interest of about $4 billion. Across the broader Hyperliquid platform, estimated notional volume was close to $3 trillion last year, and notional volume this year has already exceeded $1.5 trillion.
Trump comments and HYPE price move
President Donald Trump publicly voiced support on Aug. 20 and said the CFTC was working on a compliant path to bring the platform into the U.S. market.
According to price data from The Block, Hyperliquid’s native token HYPE has gained about 40% since that statement was released.