ICE pushes for approval of 24/7 onchain perpetual futures trading

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ICE pushes 24/7 onchain futures

Highlights

ICE CEO Jeffrey Sprecher urges regulators to approve 24/7 onchain perpetual futures contracts, citing competitive pressure from unregulated crypto platforms.
Hyperliquid, the seventh-largest decentralized exchange with 3.7% market share and $195 million in daily trading volume, rapidly challenges traditional venues and draws ICE's interest.
ICE and NYSE are partnering with firms like Securitize and OKX to build blockchain-based 24/7 trading and settlement infrastructure in response to the success and scale of crypto-native platforms.

Regulatory push and blockchain trading strategy

As first reported by Cointelegraph, ICE Chief Executive Jeffrey Sprecher says the company is urging regulators to create what he calls a level playing field for 24/7 onchain perpetual futures contracts, arguing regulated venues are being blocked from offering products that already exist in crypto markets.

Speaking at a Bernstein conference on Wednesday, Sprecher says ICE has held multiple exploratory discussions with decentralized exchange Hyperliquid to better understand onchain perpetuals and the overlap between crypto and traditional finance. ICE has not publicly confirmed whether it plans to launch an onchain perps platform through Hyperliquid, and Cointelegraph says it has approached the exchange operator for comment.

The remarks fit into a wider strategy by ICE and affiliated market operators to build blockchain-based trading infrastructure with continuous trading and faster settlement. Earlier in March, the NYSE partnered with tokenization platform Securitize as part of a broader effort to develop stock trading systems that support 24/7 trading and settlement, while OKX said on May 22 it will launch perpetual futures tied to ICE's Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate benchmarks under a broader partnership announced after ICE invested in the crypto exchange in March.

Pressure from crypto venues on regulated exchanges

Sprecher points to Hyperliquid's rapid rise as evidence that always-on crypto derivatives venues are reshaping competitive expectations for market access and product availability. He describes the platform as "bigger than Nasdaq" in a conference appearance, using the comparison to emphasize how quickly lean crypto operators can gain scale and influence.

By conventional trading-volume measures, Hyperliquid remains much smaller than Nasdaq. Still, the platform ranks as the seventh-largest decentralized exchange on CoinGecko with a 3.7% market share and about $195 million in daily trading volume, while DefiLlama data shows it generates $15.6 million in weekly fees, making it one of the crypto sector's largest fee-producing protocols.

Hyperliquid is also expanding beyond perpetuals, recently adding prediction markets for offchain events. That broader product buildout is helping position the platform as a potential crypto "super-app," and signals why established exchange operators are paying closer attention to blockchain-based, always-open trading models.

Our earlier article examined the rapid expansion of U.S. prediction markets as activity accelerates and valuations rise, alongside growing concerns about insider trading, manipulation, and unclear contract definitions. We also noted how the regulatory debate is intensifying amid political ties to major platforms and uncertainty over whether federal oversight—potentially via the CFTC—can keep pace with enforcement needs.

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