U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed that regulators led by the CFTC are actively working to ensure Hyperliquid's full and legal presence in the U.S. market. The exchange's native token, HYPE, responded with an immediate surge of more than 6% within a few hours.
On Wednesday, August 19, a closed-door meeting was held at the White House with the participation of leaders from major cryptocurrency and technology companies. Among the invitees were top executives from Coinbase, Ripple, and Nasdaq, as well as SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and CFTC Chairman Mike Selig. However, the main topic of discussion was the fate of Hyperliquid — the largest decentralized platform for trading perpetual futures.
Trump specifically thanked Selig for taking responsibility for the process of legalizing Hyperliquid in the U.S. "I understand that Mike is also working to bring Hyperliquid to the States fully legally and transparently," the president stated. Notably, Selig promised to reveal regulatory details as early as Thursday.
Why this matters for the market
The choice of date is no coincidence: on August 20, the first meeting of the CFTC's Advisory Committee on Innovation will take place in Washington. The agenda includes crypto assets, artificial intelligence, and predictive markets. Preparation for this event has been underway for several months. As early as July, the Hyperliquid Policy Center, together with the Phantom wallet, filed a petition with the CFTC demanding that DeFi protocols be exempt from outdated exchange rules.
Currently, Hyperliquid blocks users from the U.S., considering them restricted persons under its terms of use. However, American traders hold dominant positions in the derivatives market, and their access could dramatically change liquidity volumes and fee collections for the ecosystem.
Market reaction and HYPE's position
The market reacted immediately: HYPE rose by more than 6% over the past day and was trading around $68.19 at the time of publication. The token's market capitalization stands at approximately $15.1 billion, placing it tenth among all crypto assets. HYPE first surpassed Dogecoin back in May, entering the top 10.
However, resistance remains. According to my data, CME Group and ICE, the owner of the NYSE, are advocating for stricter control over the platform, citing risks of manipulation and potential sanctions consequences. Compliance issues remain unresolved: registration, KYC procedures, and leverage limits are difficult to apply to a non-custodial on-chain order book.
The nearest catalyst will be the committee meeting on Thursday. If Selig presents specific conditions rather than general principles, this will determine HYPE's further trajectory. In my experience, such political signals often precede actual regulatory changes, so the current rise may be just the beginning of a larger move.