ICE plans U.S. crypto perpetual futures venue

That matters because perpetual futures have become a core liquidity engine in digital assets. They are heavily used for leveraged speculation, hedging and price discovery, and have helped shape the market structure of bitcoin and other tokens globally. A U.S. listing would give institutions and retail traders a regulated alternative to offshore platforms, while also creating new fee, clearing and data opportunities for ICE. It could also expand the addressable market for brokers and market makers already plugged into ICE’s ecosystem.

The deal is also the clearest sign yet that Washington may be willing to tolerate, and perhaps normalize, a product regulators had long viewed with suspicion. CFTC staff in May issued guidance and no-action relief that effectively cleared the way for perpetual futures in the U.S., including approval for Kalshi’s bitcoin perp contract. The proposed ICE venue would be the largest commercial test of that path so far, especially because it links a major traditional exchange operator with a crypto-native protocol that has mostly been inaccessible to U.S. participants.

ICE’s move is striking because it reverses an earlier posture. As recently as May, Bloomberg reported ICE and CME Group were pressing regulators to scrutinize Hyperliquid over manipulation and sanctions-evasion risk. That change reflects the broader push to bring fast-growing crypto derivatives into a regulated wrapper rather than fight them from the sidelines. In August, President Donald Trump said CFTC Chair Michael Selig was working to bring Hyperliquid into the U.S. in a “fully compliant and legal fashion,” underscoring the policy shift.

The market reaction shows how closely traders are watching that shift. Hyperliquid’s HYPE token jumped from an $80.69 open to an intraday high of $92.10 on Oct. 29, then traded above $96 later in the session, according to market data cited in the announcement. Bitcoin itself was firmer around $78,057, but remained below its 50-day moving average and well under recent highs, a sign that the broader crypto market is still digesting volatility even as infrastructure names draw attention.

For ICE, the commercial logic is straightforward. Chairman Jeffrey Sprecher said retail participation is becoming more global and that ICE wants to meet traders through the partners and brokers they already use. The group also plans to seek separate approvals for margin trading, which would deepen the product’s appeal but also increase the regulatory bar. Distribution could extend through ICE’s joint venture with OKX, though that venture still awaits U.S. approvals.

The bull case is that ICE can turn regulatory clarity into a first-mover advantage, adding a new growth lane without cannibalizing its core futures franchise. The bear case is that approvals take longer than expected, the product is constrained by compliance requirements, or U.S. demand proves less robust than offshore volume suggests. Either way, the deal raises the odds that crypto perps move from a gray-market feature to a mainstream exchange product — and that could reshape competition in derivatives, from Coinbase and CME to offshore venues that have dominated the trade so far.