Hyperliquid group asks CFTC to allow energy perpetuals

Hyperliquid Policy Center and trade[XYZ] have asked the CFTC to permit regulated perpetual contracts tied to WTI crude, Brent crude, and Henry Hub natural gas after their markets recorded more than $500 billion in cumulative volume.
Summary

• trade[XYZ] has operated perpetual markets on Hyperliquid since October 2025.
• The groups said continuous trading could help U.S. firms hedge energy exposure during weekends.
• Crude perpetual prices anticipated nearly 75% of the Sunday reopenings examined in a cited study.
• The filing proposes stablecoin margin, leverage limits, and regulated onchain market infrastructure.

Hyperliquid Policy Center and trade[XYZ] said in an Aug. 26 joint filing that U.S. regulators can bring energy perpetual contracts into regulated markets without waiting for new legislation.

Submitted in response to a Commodity Futures Trading Commission review, the letter calls for a legal path covering contracts linked to West Texas Intermediate crude, Brent crude, and Henry Hub natural gas. trade[XYZ], the first major third-party market deployer on Hyperliquid, has offered such products since October 2025.

Its markets have generated more than $500 billion in cumulative trading volume, according to the filing, which cited Bloomberg. The figure covers several asset classes available through trade[XYZ], including its energy products.

Unlike dated futures, perpetual contracts do not expire. Traders instead make recurring funding payments designed to keep each contract close to the price of its reference asset, allowing a position to remain open without being transferred into a new delivery month.
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Energy perpetuals could fill weekend hedging gaps

Continuous access formed a central part of the groups' case, particularly when geopolitical events moved oil prices while established U.S. futures venues were closed.

After conflict in the Middle East disrupted energy exports on Feb. 28, airlines, refiners and fund managers with crude exposure could not change their positions through regulated U.S. futures markets until trading resumed on Sunday evening, the filing said. Oil-linked perpetual contracts on Hyperliquid continued operating through the weekend.

According to the groups, about two-thirds of the oil price change between Friday's close and the benchmark's Sunday reopening had already occurred in the onchain market. Brent later reached nearly $120 per barrel by March 9, while jet fuel prices doubled within weeks, according to news reports cited in the filing.

Research published by Hyperliquid Policy Center also compared crude perpetual prices with the benchmark's later reopening level. Across nearly 75% of the weekend closures studied, the perpetual contract finished closer to Sunday's opening price than the benchmark's previous Friday close.

The same study found no statistically measurable decline in the quality of CME WTI reopening prices after trade[XYZ] launched its crude contract, according to the filing. Hyperliquid Policy Center used the finding to argue that perpetuals can trade alongside dated futures without weakening the established benchmark.

Dated futures would remain useful for companies that need physical settlement, exposure to a particular delivery month, or positions based on the shape of the futures curve. Perpetuals, by comparison, could serve participants seeking continuous price exposure without regularly rolling a contract into its next expiry.

Contract size could also affect access. The filing noted that one benchmark WTI futures contract covers 1,000 barrels, representing around $70,000 in notional exposure at recent prices, while the median off-hours crude trade on trade[XYZ was about $1,300.

In May, an oil-perpetual partnership between Intercontinental Exchange and OKX showed that established market operators were also examining round-the-clock energy products. ICE agreed to license its Brent and WTI prices for perpetual contracts offered by OKX in selected markets outside the United States.

CFTC review has opened a US regulatory path

The CFTC requested public comments in June on two connected issues: extending standard energy futures to continuous trading and listing perpetual contracts tied to physical or storable energy commodities.

Its review covers reference-price reliability, manipulation risks, surveillance, position limits, margin, clearing, customer safeguards, and possible effects on physical energy markets. After adding questions and receiving requests for more time, the agency extended the submission deadline to Aug. 26.

CFTC Chair Michael Selig said the agency needed a "clear, data-driven record" as regulated entities considered longer trading hours and new contract designs. The commission has not approved energy perpetuals, and the public consultation does not guarantee that it will authorize them.

A regulated route already exists for some digital-asset products. As crypto.news reported in May, the CFTC approved Kalshi's Bitcoin perpetual as the first federally regulated contract of its kind in the United States.

The approval treated Kalshi's non-expiring product as a futures contract, although the CFTC limited its analysis to that contract and similarly structured products referencing digital commodities with deep and continuously active spot markets. Energy products require separate consideration because crude oil and natural gas have physical markets, delivery systems, and benchmarks that operate differently from Bitcoin.

Hyperliquid Policy Center has also sought an equity framework from the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission. In an Aug. 24 submission, the group argued that qualifying equity perpetuals should be treated as security futures when they carry the established features of futures contracts.

Onchain systems would support continuous operations

For energy contracts, the latest filing asks the CFTC to adopt a technology-neutral framework rather than require a particular market structure. Exchanges and clearinghouses would need to demonstrate compliance with existing CFTC core principles before operating continuously.

Hyperliquid Policy Center and trade[XYZ] said onchain systems can run trading, margin checks, clearing, settlement, and surveillance at all hours. Under trade[XYZ]'s model, positions are funded in advance, while margin is recalculated with each transaction rather than waiting for a scheduled settlement period.

According to the filing, standard order-book liquidations have handled 97.9% of all notional volume liquidated across trade[XYZ] markets. Predefined backstop and tail-loss processes covered the remainder.

Because transactions, margin changes and liquidations appear on a public ledger, the groups said regulated operators could conduct real-time surveillance without adding separate reporting requirements for every market participant. Any U.S. operator would still have to meet applicable rules on market integrity, customer protection, and recordkeeping.

A July data integration added Hyperliquid and trade[XYZ] prices to TradingView, allowing users to monitor onchain markets covering commodities, equities, foreign exchange and crypto outside standard exchange hours.

Stablecoins could provide weekend margin

The filing also asks the CFTC to recognize eligible stablecoins and tokenized traditional assets as margin for cleared derivatives. Unlike transfers through banks that close on weekends, blockchain-based collateral can move while a continuous market remains open.

Current CFTC policy already permits certain digital assets in some cleared derivatives transactions. Under the agency's crypto collateral pilot, participating futures commission merchants may accept Bitcoin, Ether and qualifying stablecoins, subject to reporting, capital and risk-management requirements.

Hyperliquid Policy Center and trade[XYZ] want the commission to clarify how such treatment would apply to energy markets. Their proposal does not call for crypto collateral in uncleared swaps, which remain outside the existing pilot.

Along with collateral rules, the groups proposed leverage limits set according to the asset class and plain-language disclosures explaining funding payments and liquidation processes. Market-integrity measures would also have to address price manipulation and the reliability of reference benchmarks during periods when physical energy markets are inactive.

Several CFTC requirements are written around conventional operating hours, including deadlines tied to the next "business day." The filing asks the regulator to explain how such terms would apply when an exchange, clearing system, and collateral network continue running through nights, weekends, and holidays.

The final request calls for regulated operators to use onchain infrastructure for execution, margin, clearing, settlement, and recordkeeping whenever the systems satisfy existing CFTC core principles.
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