Jeffrey Sprecher, founder and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), dropped a bombshell at the Bernstein conference: decentralized perpetual futures venue Hyperliquid is “bigger than NASDAQ.” He disclosed that his team has met Hyperliquid’s founders multiple times, calling them “very, very smart people.”
11 People vs Billions in Daily Volume
“If you haven’t heard about it — it’s bigger than NASDAQ, okay? It’s 11 people,” Sprecher said during a May 27 fireside chat. By market cap, Hyperliquid’s HYPE token sits at roughly $15.1 billion, versus Nasdaq Inc.’s $50 billion — so the comparison doesn’t hold on valuation. But on daily perpetual futures notional turnover, Hyperliquid clears billions and commands over 70% of the decentralized perp-DEX market. The “11 people” refers to Hyperliquid Labs, the core developer, while the broader project draws on open-source contributors and a validator set running its Layer-1 blockchain.
Weekend Oil Trading Exposes Regulatory Gaps
Sprecher noted that Hyperliquid has been trading oil derivatives on weekends when ICE’s traditional energy markets are closed. Activity surged during recent Middle East tensions. JPMorgan analysts flagged the same pattern: non-crypto traders using Hyperliquid’s 24/7 markets for off-hours oil exposure. “A lot of decisions and things happen on the weekend, so it’s gotten a lot of interest,” Sprecher said.
Dodd-Frank vs Unregulated Offshore Venue
Under U.S. law, Hyperliquid’s perpetual futures are swaps subject to Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act, which mandates reporting, margining and dealer registration. ICE operates under those rules; Hyperliquid, an unregulated foreign-incorporated venue, does not. “Why are you prohibiting us from doing this when it’s already happening? Can’t we have a level playing field? This stuff is global,” Sprecher argued. He expects clearer answers in the coming months — either a new regulated perpetual future category or pulling offshore venues into Dodd-Frank and the EU’s EMIR framework.