Hyperliquid’s Jeff Yan Wants US Regulators to Police…

Hyperliquid founder Jeff Yan is pushing US regulators to supervise the financial firms that run markets on his blockchain rather than requiring the network itself to register as a regulated exchange. The proposal, made in a Bloomberg interview reported on October 15, could give Wall Street institutions a route to build trading businesses on Hyperliquid while regulatory duties stay with the companies controlling individual markets.

Yan framed the argument around control. "The regulation sits at the layer where there are controls, and indeed the deployers are the ones that exercise these controls," he told Bloomberg, comparing the blockchain to internet infrastructure that regulated institutions can use to deliver services. Under that reading, a derivatives market operator would carry the compliance obligations while the shared chain supplies execution and recordkeeping. Hyperliquid's existing perpetual futures platform remains unavailable to US customers, and the idea is Yan's preferred interpretation of current rules rather than an announced regulatory change.

Payward's planned offering as a test case

The approach faces a practical test in Payward, Kraken's parent. On September 16 it announced plans to deploy perpetual futures markets for eligible US customers using Hyperliquid's HIP-3 framework, including an optional permissioned structure known as HIP-3*. Payward subsidiary Bitnomial would create and administer the markets through its CFTC-regulated exchange and clearinghouse, while NinjaTrader Clearing, another Payward business, would handle customer accounts as a registered futures commission merchant. Only customers approved by those regulated entities and placed on the required allowlists could trade. Hyperliquid would provide the onchain order book and transaction infrastructure, but Payward does not intend to simply open Hyperliquid's existing permissionless markets to American traders. The offering still needs regulatory approval and no launch date has been set.

The discussion follows comments by President Donald Trump at a White House event on August 19, when he said CFTC Chairman Michael Selig was working to bring Hyperliquid into the country in a compliant manner. That statement signalled administration interest but did not authorise US access or create a regulatory framework. Yan's position also builds on a July effort in which the Hyperliquid Policy Center and Phantom asked the CFTC to separate software development from regulated financial intermediation.

Regulators must still weigh surveillance, customer identification, anti-money laundering, sanctions compliance and accountability for trading. The near-term milestone is clearance for Payward's markets; clearer CFTC guidance on the software-versus-market-operator distinction would shape how exchanges, brokers and fintechs assess blockchain-based derivatives infrastructure.