Trump opens door to Hyperliquid as US pulls crypto trade onshore

White House signals intention to bring Hyperliquid, a popular crypto platform, onto US soil, potentially reshaping the industry's offshore infrastructure. President Trump confirmed in a White House event that Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael Selig is actively working to bring Hyperliquid into the United States in a legally compliant manner. The platform, headquartered in Singapore, would gain a legal footing under US oversight, offering a gateway for US traders.

Hyperliquid's founder, Jeff Yan, a former trader at Hudson River Trading, co-founded the platform. Its main developer, Hyperliquid Labs, is based in Singapore. The platform's shares, under the ticker PURR, surged by up to 31% following Trump's comments on August 19, 2023. Hyperliquid specializes in perpetual futures, leveraged contracts that enable traders to speculate on cryptocurrency prices without expiration dates.

The platform has gained significant attention due to its offering of contracts tied to real-world assets, such as equities and commodities.

The comments from Trump have caused a ripple effect throughout the Hyperliquid ecosystem, including its cryptocurrency HYPE and publicly traded company Hyperliquid Strategies (ticker PURR). The latter is a digital-asset treasury, accumulating cryptocurrencies and focusing on HYPE, giving traditional equity investors indirect exposure to Hyperliquid's growth. Shares of major US exchange operators, such as Cboe Global Markets and CME Group, fell to their lowest points of the session.

This development highlights the shifting regulatory and political landscape for digital assets. Ayesha Kiani, COO at Monarq Asset Management, noted that Trump's remarks on Hyperliquid and the subsequent price reaction in HYPE demonstrate how quickly the regulatory and political backdrop for digital assets is changing. "What's notable isn't just the price move but it's that decentralized market infrastructure is increasingly entering mainstream policy conversations," Kiani added.

The CFTC has recently outlined conditions under which regulated US platforms can offer perpetual contracts. These conditions are part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to move crypto businesses and trading activity into the American financial system. However, the exact path for Hyperliquid to legally offer perpetual products in the US remains unclear, as compliance requirements may undermine the platform's decentralized appeal.

Despite this challenge, a path into the US would broaden Hyperliquid's customer base and capital, while testing whether a trading model initially developed outside traditional US rules can operate within them. Joshua Lim, global co-head of markets at FalconX, remarked, "Hyperliquid has been the poster child for convergence: the idea that traditional asset classes are going to be traded, margined, and settled 24/7 on crypto rails."

"It's exhilarating to see the administration and regulators acknowledge them as a market structure innovator and opening up access to US market participants."