Hyperliquid Strategies Seeks U.S. Futures Broker Role for HYPE Markets

Hyperliquid Strategies is trying to turn its HYPE-heavy treasury into a U.S. trading business. The move matters because it would put a regulated broker between American customers and markets built on a venue that currently bars them. The Nasdaq-listed company, which trades as PURR and is chaired by former Barclays CEO Bob Diamond, said in its [quarterly results](https://hypestrat.xyz/press/financial-results-for-the-quarter-ended-september-931281) that a subsidiary has applied to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to register as a futures commission merchant, or FCM. An FCM holds customer funds and handles futures orders. If regulators approve the application, the subsidiary could carry U.S. accounts for permissioned markets on [Hyperliquid](https://decrypt.co/price/hyperliquid). That approval is only one hurdle. Regulators would also need to approve the markets themselves. ## A new route into Hyperliquid Hyperliquid is a major onchain venue for perpetual futures: leveraged derivatives with no expiration date. It currently blocks U.S. users. Its HIP-3 framework lets outside firms launch perpetual markets on its order book by staking HYPE. A proposed permissioned version, HIP-3*, would allow a regulated deployer to limit trading to approved customers, while Hyperliquid supplies the underlying infrastructure. For Hyperliquid Strategies, the filing extends a business built around holding HYPE. CEO David Schamis described the connection plainly: “We deployed $802 million this quarter and filed an application to become a futures commission merchant. Those two moves are the same bet.” The company held about 38.5 million HYPE at the end of September, worth roughly $3.5 billion. More U.S. trading on Hyperliquid could generate additional protocol fees; the protocol uses fee revenue to buy back HYPE. An FCM could also give the company an operating business beyond its token holdings. That’s the strategic logic. Whether the regulated markets attract meaningful trading is still an open question. The quarter’s numbers show how closely the company’s results track HYPE. It spent $785 million on 9.1 million HYPE and $17 million repurchasing 2.7 million of its own shares, with much of the spending funded by $911 million raised through stock sales. Net income came to $620.6 million, driven almost entirely by $803 million in unrealized gains as HYPE climbed from about $65 to $91. ## Other firms are pursuing the same opening Hyperliquid Strategies isn’t alone in trying to bring these markets to U.S. customers. Kraken parent Payward has said it plans to deploy HIP-3* markets through its CFTC-regulated Bitnomial exchange, with NinjaTrader Clearing acting as the FCM. ICE is also part of the broader effort to bring Hyperliquid-based perpetual futures into the United States. The framework may offer a way to connect Hyperliquid’s trading infrastructure with regulated access. But the filings and plans are not approvals; both the broker and the markets still need regulatory clearance.

Regulatory approval is the real test

A partnership with Intercontinental Exchange gives Hyperliquid a path toward U.S. perpetual futures, and the market reaction was immediate: HYPE rose 13% after ICE, the New York Stock Exchange’s owner, agreed last week to work with Trade[XYZ]. The partnership matters because Trade[XYZ] already operates markets on Hyperliquid, including S&P 500 perpetual futures. ([ICE and Trade[XYZ] partnership](https://decrypt.co/382149/hyperliquid-hype-jumps-nyse-owner-ice-perpetual-futures-us); [Trade[XYZ]’s S&P 500 market](https://decrypt.co/361597/now-trade-official-sp-500-perpetual-futures-hyperliquid)) But the price jump doesn’t settle the harder question: whether the proposed markets can operate in the U.S. Regulators still need to approve both the company’s futures commission merchant registration and the permissioned HIP-3 markets it plans to serve. Trade[XYZ] hasn’t provided a timeline. That leaves the partnership as a significant signal of intent, with the practical outcome still contingent on regulatory approval.