The parent company of the New York Stock Exchange wants regulators to set clear ground rules for around-the-clock onchain perpetual futures trading. Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is making the case as newer, crypto-native platforms like Hyperliquid eat into what was once a Wall Street-only business.
Why Sprecher is speaking out
ICE CEO Jeffrey Sprecher told attendees at a recent industry conference that the lack of a defined regulatory framework for 24/7 onchain perpetuals is becoming a competitive disadvantage. Perpetual futures — contracts that never expire and let traders bet on price direction with leverage — have exploded in volume on decentralized exchanges. Hyperliquid, one of the largest, now handles billions of dollars in daily trades without a central clearinghouse or exchange license.
Sprecher argued that established market operators like ICE are willing to offer similar products but need the SEC and CFTC to spell out how securities and commodities laws apply to tokenized versions of these contracts. Without that clarity, he said, innovation shifts to unregulated venues outside U.S. oversight.
The Hyperliquid threat
Hyperliquid isn't a single company but a decentralized protocol running on its own blockchain. It has no CEO, no headquarters, and no registration with U.S. regulators. That has let it move fast — listing dozens of perpetual pairs for cryptocurrencies, launching its own token, and attracting high-frequency trading firms that used to rely on CME or ICE for their bitcoin exposure.
“We're seeing a lot of volume migrate to these onchain platforms,” Sprecher said. “If we want that activity to happen under the same investor protections that exist in our markets, we need a regulatory path that makes sense.” His comments reflect a growing frustration among traditional exchange operators who feel hamstrung by rules written before blockchain trading existed.
What regulatory clarity would unlock
ICE has been experimenting with digital assets for years — its Bakkt platform launched bitcoin futures in 2019 — but has so far avoided perpetual swaps, the most popular crypto derivative product by far. A clear rulebook would let ICE design a product that settles on a blockchain, can be traded 24/7, and still complies with exchange registration, margin rules, and market surveillance requirements.
The company is also eyeing the institutional demand for tokenized versions of traditional assets. If perpetual futures on stocks or ETFs could be traded onchain around the clock, that would represent a direct challenge to the NYSE’s own business model — which is why ICE wants to be the one offering them first, under regulated auspices.
The push comes as other big exchanges, including CME Group and Nasdaq, have also signaled interest in crypto perpetuals. None have launched a regulated onchain product yet. The holdup is consistently the same: no one is sure which agency has jurisdiction or what the compliance baseline looks like.
No formal proposal has been filed with the SEC or CFTC. Sprecher acknowledged that the effort would require coordination between the two agencies, which have sparred over who oversees crypto spot and derivatives markets. For now, ICE is lobbying behind the scenes and waiting for a signal that Washington is ready to act.
If that signal doesn't come, the volume will keep flowing to Hyperliquid and its peers — and the next generation of market infrastructure will be built outside the reach of U.S. regulators.
