The Hyperliquid Policy Center (HPC) and trade[XYZ] have asked the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to build a regulated US market for energy perpetual contracts, filing their request on Wednesday, August 26.

Should the CFTC grant the request, American oil and gas traders would gain a domestic venue to hedge crude and natural gas exposure around the clock — including nights and weekends, when conventional futures markets are closed.

A joint letter aimed at oil and gas

The two groups filed a joint comment letter with the CFTC covering contracts tied to WTI crude, Brent crude, and Henry Hub natural gas — the industry's core price markers, with WTI and Brent anchoring global crude pricing and Henry Hub, a Louisiana pipeline hub, serving as the delivery point for the main US natural gas futures contract.

HPC is an independent research and advocacy organization with ties to the Hyperliquid Foundation. trade[XYZ] is a HIP-3 deployer that runs traditional-asset perpetual markets on Hyperliquid; the project launched in October 2025 and has since reportedly handled more than $500 billion in cumulative volume.

The filing responds to a sequence of regulatory developments. In May, the CFTC cleared the first perpetual contracts to trade as futures on a US exchange, but limited them to crypto underliers, and its policy statement singled out energy as a class needing further review. In June, the regulator then asked the public for input on perpetuals referencing storable, physically delivered commodities. HPC and trade[XYZ] are answering that request, and for them, energy is the logical next asset class after digital ones.

The February oil shock as Exhibit A

The letter cited February 28, when fighting in the Middle East cut off regional energy exports and US oil futures were shut down during part of the initial shock. As the fighting raged on, Brent oil's price nearly hit $120 per barrel by March 9, causing jet fuel prices to double within a very short window. Airlines that had locked in fuel costs weathered the storm, while those without enough contingency suffered losses.

Oil-linked perpetuals kept trading on Hyperliquid even during the closed window. HPC and trade[XYZ] said that around two-thirds of the price move between Friday's close and the benchmark's Sunday reopening had already played out onchain before traditional venues came back.

Why a contract with no expiry can track the price

A perpetual contract has no settlement date. Instead, a recurring funding payment pushes its price back toward the asset it references. The design is an import from crypto trading — BitMEX pioneered the funding-rate structure in 2016 — and, under the CFTC's May decision, US regulated exchanges have so far listed it only on digital-asset underliers.

HPC and trade[XYZ] stated that they are not advocating the retirement of dated futures, which still suit traders who need a specific delivery month or physical settlement.

The groups noted that standard WTI futures move in 1,000-barrel lots — close to $70,000 of notional at recent prices — while the median off-hours trade in trade[XYZ]'s crude market runs near $1,300.

HPC also pointed to its study, "Perpetual Futures as Complements to Dated Futures," which found that in almost 75% of the weekend closures sampled, the crude perpetual's price sat closer to the benchmark's Sunday reopening than to its own Friday close.

What HPC and trade[XYZ] asked the CFTC to do

In their comment letter, the authors asked the CFTC to carry out five steps to bring energy perpetual contracts into regulated US markets, saying the agency can do so without the need for new legislation. The Core Principles cited in the second step are the baseline standards the CFTC already applies to registered exchanges and clearinghouses:

1. Adopt a technology-neutral framework for 24/7 trading.
2. Confirm that exchanges and clearinghouses can run continuously under the existing Core Principles.
3. Clarify what "business day" means for markets that never close.
4. Recognize stablecoins and tokenized collateral as eligible margin.
5. Confirm that regulated venues may use onchain rails for clearing and settlement, respectively.

Hyperliquid's wider push for the US market

A few days earlier, HPC urged the SEC and CFTC to harmonize how they classify perpetuals by economic structure rather than underlying asset — the same structure-first logic that underpins its energy petition.

The lobbying carries political cover: President Donald Trump stated that CFTC Chairman Michael Selig was working to bring Hyperliquid onshore "in a fully compliant and legal fashion." HYPE went up 40% after President Trump's statement.

Not everyone is on board with the arrangement. CME sued the CFTC in June over its decision to permit perpetual futures, and exchanges including CME and ICE have said that Hyperliquid should register with the agency. Both run flagship energy markets — CME lists the benchmark WTI contract and ICE lists Brent — so a round-the-clock perpetual venue would compete with the energy franchises they already operate.

HYPE traded around $82.12 on Wednesday, per CoinMarketCap.