Hyperliquid Policy Committee urges EU to fold on-chain perps into MiFID II

The Hyperliquid Policy Committee has taken its lobbying show to Brussels. On October 1, 2026, the group filed its first formal submission with the European Commission, answering a consultation on how the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework should evolve.

The pitch is refreshingly unglamorous. Don’t write new laws, the committee argues. Use the ones Europe already has.

What the committee actually asked for

The centerpiece of the filing concerns on-chain perpetual contracts, better known as perps. These are derivatives that let traders bet on an asset’s price without an expiry date. The HPC wants them brought under MiFID II, the EU’s existing rulebook for financial instruments and trading venues.

Bolting perps onto MiFID II, rather than drafting fresh legislation, is the committee’s preferred route. It also suggests the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issue guidance on how MiFID II should apply to these products.

Two principles anchor the argument: technology neutrality and economic substance. Put simply, regulators should judge a product by what it does, not by whether it runs on a blockchain or a bank server.

That framing matters because of what the HPC wants to avoid. Europe already places restrictions on retail access to contracts for difference, or CFDs. These are leveraged products where a trader bets on price moves, typically with a market maker on the other side of the trade.

The committee says on-chain perps work differently. They run on a public central limit order book, where buyers and sellers are matched openly rather than trading against a dealer. Because of that structural gap, the HPC argues CFD-style retail curbs should not automatically carry over to on-chain perps.

The reporting argument

The filing also targets paperwork. The HPC is pushing to cut duplicate reporting obligations for data that already lives on public blockchains.

Its logic is straightforward. Public chains are open and verifiable by design, so asking firms to separately report information anyone can already inspect looks redundant.

Why the timing matters

The submission lands a few months after a key MiCA deadline. The framework’s transitional period ended on July 1, 2026.

That cutoff raised the possibility of regulatory gaps for on-chain derivatives. MiCA was built largely around crypto assets and service providers, and products like perps sit awkwardly between crypto rules and traditional securities law.

The HPC’s proposal is essentially a way to close that gap without waiting years for a new legislative process. MiFID II already exists, already has supervisors, and already covers derivatives. The committee is asking Brussels to stretch it rather than start over.

Who is the Hyperliquid Policy Committee

The HPC was set up in February 2026 and is funded by the Hyperliquid Foundation. It serves as the policy arm of the Hyperliquid ecosystem, which centers on decentralized trading.

Until now, its advocacy work had focused on the United States. The European filing marks its first policy submission outside the US.

The funding structure is worth keeping in mind. A policy body backed by a trading ecosystem’s foundation is, unsurprisingly, arguing for rules that would make on-chain trading easier to offer in Europe.