Two major US exchange powerhouses are moving against a top decentralized trading venue. According to Bloomberg, CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which owns the New York Stock Exchange, are urging US authorities to regulate Hyperliquid amid concerns that its largely offshore, lightly regulated trading environment could be vulnerable to market manipulation and sanctions evasion.

Hyperliquid’s native HYPE token slipped approximately 6% in reaction to the development, moving from above $45 to below $43, per CoinGecko. It has a market cap of around $10.3 billion, making it the 13th-largest crypto asset globally.

The exchanges argue that Hyperliquid’s growing trading volumes in crypto and commodity-linked markets could begin to distort price discovery in critical sectors like oil, where global benchmarks are formed. They warn that anonymous trading environments may allow insiders or state-linked participants to influence prices.

The push, which includes calls for registration with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, comes as CME advances plans to expand its own 24/7 crypto trading offerings.

CME has been steadily expanding its own crypto derivatives offerings. Bitcoin Volatility Futures contracts are scheduled to begin trading June 1, and Nasdaq CME Crypto Index Futures, a multi-asset product spanning BTC, ETH, XRP, and others, launch a week later on June 8.

Both products are designed to give institutional traders regulated alternatives to the kind of leveraged trading that Hyperliquid offers with less friction and less compliance overhead.

Hyperliquid operates as a decentralized trading ecosystem centered on a purpose-built layer 1 blockchain designed for high-speed on-chain trading. Featuring an integrated order-book exchange, HyperEVM infrastructure, and support for spot and perpetual futures markets, the platform aims to deliver centralized-exchange efficiency while maintaining on-chain transparency and composability.

Since its launch, the project has achieved major milestones in trading activity, market share, ecosystem growth, and token performance, while expanding into lending, staking, governance, and other DeFi services.

At its April 2025 high point, Hyperliquid accounted for roughly 70% of the on-chain perpetual futures market, per DefiLlama.

The Hyperliquid Policy Center, an advocacy group formed in February by a Hyperliquid-affiliated foundation, has engaged with the CFTC in meetings aimed at establishing a legal route for US participation in its markets, a person familiar with the talks told Bloomberg.

Allowing the US access would substantially deepen its pool of retail users. The group argues that these markets are more beneficial and present fewer risks than traditional centralized exchanges, and expects the CFTC to develop a tailored regulatory framework for on-chain derivatives platforms such as Hyperliquid.