2026-05-16 18:10:16
Hyperliquid ramps up Washington lobby as Wall Street applies regulatory pressure
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Jeff Yan, the cofounder and CEO of Hyperliquid, revealed on May 15 that he and the Hyperliquid Policy Center, the protocol’s independent research and advocacy organization, met with policymakers in Washington as the ClARITY Act advances through Congress. The revelations come the same week CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) reportedly urged U.S. regulators to increase scrutiny of the decentralized perpetual futures platform. Yan stated that they discussed “Hyperliquid, the benefits that it offers to American consumers, and the regulatory path to bring on-chain derivatives markets into the United States.” In a post on X, Hyperliquid’s Policy Center addressed the Bloomberg report that CME and ICE had raised concerns about market manipulation and sanctions risk on Hyperliquid. “These concerns are unfounded,” Hyperliquid Policy Center wrote, adding that the protocol “offers enhanced market transparency, publishing a complete onchain” record of activity. Wall Street wants CFTC oversight CME Group and ICE , which owns the New York Stock Exchange, want Hyperliquid to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). This registration would require the platform to implement customer identity verification and trade surveillance systems. Hyperliquid runs on 31 validators and secures user deposits behind a 3-of-4 multisig bridge, and this gives regulators a clear jurisdictional hook if they choose to act, according to Cryptopolitan. American users still trade on the platform despite its IP restrictions, and this gives the CFTC an opening to argue that the venue touches U.S. markets regardless of geographic blocks. Hyperliquid has processed over $178 billion in perpetual futures volume in the past 30 days, as seen on DefiLlama. It processed over $181 billion and $209 billion in April and March, respectively, and these figures make it difficult for traditional exchanges to ignore. Hyperliquid’s $30 million policy operation The Hyper Foundation launched the Hyperliquid Policy Center in February 2026, committing 1 million HYPE tokens (worth approximately $29 million at the time) to fund the nonprofit. Jake Chervinsky, former Chief Legal Officer at Variant and a senior figure at the Blockchain Association, leads the organization as CEO. Yan wrote on X that the discussions from his meeting with policymakers “included how onchain trading is a financial innovation that has clear global user demand.” He added that “other conversations focused more on a first principles introduction to DeFi and the promise of onchain markets.” Crypto vs. TradFi 2.0 While the confrontation between Hyperliquid and Wall Street incumbents is ongoing, there is another that has been brewing over stablecoin yields in the CLARITY Act, and it is far-reaching. Six banking trade groups sent a joint letter demanding lawmakers strip all stablecoin reward mechanisms from the legislation days before a May 14 markup, per Bloomberg. The American Bankers Association, Bank Policy Institute, and four other groups signed on, targeting Section 404 of the bill. In April, the White House Council of Economic Advisers published an analysis finding that showed that a total ban on stablecoin yield would boost bank lending by just 0.02%, or $2.1 billion, undermining the banking lobby’s deposit flight warnings, according to Cryptopolitan’s reporting. With the recent opposition of Hyperliquid, incumbent financial institutions are back to pushing for regulatory intervention against crypto-native competitors that offer transparency or yield advantages outside traditional rails. The DEX’s response has been to engage directly with the legislative process rather than retreat offshore. If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter .