ICE, CME Pressure US Regulators on Hyperliquid's Commodity Market Expansion

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the two biggest exchanges for energy-linked commodities, are pressuring US regulators to clamp down on the Hyperliquid decentralized exchange’s expansion into commodity markets.

Executives from both companies say that Hyperliquid’s energy-linked onchain derivatives create insider trading and price manipulation risks, according to Bloomberg, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the ongoing talks with US regulators.

ICE and CME cited the “anonymous” and “unregulated” nature of Hyperliquid as major risks to critical energy markets, like oil and gas, which could be used by state actors to circumvent sanctions, the report added.

Daily trading volume for HIP-3 perpetual futures markets. Source: DeFiLlama

Hyperliquid introduced HIP-3, also known as “Builder-Deployed Perpetuals,” in January 2025, which allows anyone who stakes 500,000 HYPE tokens, the platform's native cryptocurrency, to build perpetual futures markets for any electronically traded asset class.

The deployment of HIP-3 represents a broader trend of traditional financial markets coming onchain, as the line between blockchain-based infrastructure and traditional market architecture continues to erode.

Related: Why is Hyperliquid's HYPE token price up 23% in one day?

Hyperliquid’s token price surges following the introduction of HIP-3

The price of HYPE jumped by over 58% within three days of the launch of HIP-3. The token rose from a low of about $20 to over $38, and is trading at about $44 at the time of publication.

In March, market analyst and crypto investor Arthur Hayes forecast that HYPE could hit $150 per token by August, driven by demand for commodities-linked onchain derivatives instruments.

The HYPE token's price action. Source: CoinMarketCap

“Hyperliquid, the dominant perp DEX, is the largest revenue-generating project that isn’t a stablecoin,” he said.

The exchange also dedicates 97% of trading fee revenue to HYPE token buybacks, which boosts demand and raises the token's price over time, according to Hayes.

“If the market believes that HYPE can continue siphoning volumes away from centralized exchanges and add new features to accelerate revenue growth, then HYPE can pump in absolute terms,” he added.

Open interest for HIP-3 markets has continued to rise since their inception, climbing to over $2.5 billion in May, according to data from DeFiLlama.