Hyperliquid Policy Center and tradeXYZ have asked the CFTC to permit regulated perpetual contracts tied to WTI crude, Brent crude, and Henry Hub natural gas after their markets recorded more than $500 billion in cumulative volume.
Energy Perpetuals Could Fill Weekend Hedging Gaps
Hyperliquid Policy Center and tradeXYZ said in an Aug. 26 joint filing that U.S. regulators can bring energy perpetual contracts into regulated markets without waiting for new legislation. Submitted in response to a Commodity Futures Trading Commission review, the letter calls for a legal path covering contracts linked to West Texas Intermediate crude, Brent crude, and Henry Hub natural gas. tradeXYZ, the first major third-party market deployer on Hyperliquid, has offered such products since October 2025.
Continuous access formed a central part of the groups' case, particularly when geopolitical events moved oil prices while established U.S. futures venues were closed. After conflict in the Middle East disrupted energy exports on Feb. 28, airlines, refiners and fund managers with crude exposure could not change their positions through regulated U.S. futures markets until trading resumed on Sunday evening. Oil-linked perpetual contracts on Hyperliquid continued operating through the weekend. This proposal builds on Hyperliquid's growing DeFi infrastructure, which recently saw AQAv2 activated for HYPE buybacks.
Perpetual Prices Anticipated Sunday Reopenings
Research published by Hyperliquid Policy Center compared crude perpetual prices with the benchmark's later reopening level. Across nearly 75% of the weekend closures studied, the perpetual contract finished closer to Sunday's opening price than the benchmark's previous Friday close. The same study found no statistically measurable decline in the quality of CME WTI reopening prices after tradeXYZ launched its crude contract.
Hyperliquid Policy Center used the finding to argue that perpetuals can trade alongside dated futures without weakening the established benchmark. Dated futures would remain useful for companies that need physical settlement, exposure to a particular delivery month, or positions based on the shape of the futures curve. Perpetuals, by comparison, could serve participants seeking continuous price exposure without regularly rolling a contract into its next expiry. The regulatory push comes as the CFTC has already approved prediction market products, with Kalshi raising $1.12 billion after securing CFTC approval for Bitcoin perpetuals.
CFTC Review Has Opened a Regulatory Path
The CFTC requested public comments in June on two connected issues: extending standard energy futures to continuous trading and listing perpetual contracts tied to physical or storable energy commodities. Its review covers reference-price reliability, manipulation risks, surveillance, position limits, margin, clearing, customer safeguards, and possible effects on physical energy markets. CFTC Chair Michael Selig said the agency needed a clear, data-driven record as regulated entities considered longer trading hours and new contract designs.
The filing proposes stablecoin margin, leverage limits, and regulated onchain market infrastructure. Under tradeXYZ's model, positions are funded in advance, while margin is recalculated with each transaction rather than waiting for a scheduled settlement period. Standard order-book liquidations have handled 97.9% of all notional volume liquidated across tradeXYZ markets, while predefined backstop and tail-loss processes covered the remainder.
Onchain Systems Support Continuous Operations
For energy contracts, the latest filing asks the CFTC to adopt a technology-neutral framework rather than require a particular market structure. Exchanges and clearinghouses would need to demonstrate compliance with existing CFTC core principles before operating continuously. Hyperliquid Policy Center and tradeXYZ said onchain systems can run trading, margin checks, clearing, settlement, and surveillance at all hours. Because transactions, margin changes and liquidations appear on a public ledger, the groups said regulated operators could conduct real-time surveillance without adding separate reporting requirements for every market participant.
