Hyperliquid founder Jeff Yan has called on U.S. regulators to build their frameworks around market operators rather than the blockchain itself, a shift he argues would open a path to legal access for Hyperliquid in the United States. Under the proposal, compliance obligations would fall on identifiable operators instead of the underlying chain. The approach mirrors how traditional U.S. financial markets are supervised, where oversight attaches to exchanges, brokers, and clearing firms rather than to the systems they run.

Hyperliquid is a decentralized protocol specializing in perpetual futures, and its HYPE token serves as the platform's native asset. The protocol operates on its own Layer-1 blockchain and has grown into one of the largest venues for on-chain derivatives trading. Legal access to U.S. participants is a pivotal issue for the on-chain derivatives sector, where regulatory ambiguity has prompted several decentralized platforms to restrict American users.

Yan's regulatory proposal comes as HYPE trades between $76 and $78, marking a 1%–3% decline over the past 24 hours. The token now sits roughly 20% below its September all-time high of $98.04, a pullback that has unfolded amid continued regulatory uncertainty. On prediction markets, the probability of HYPE reaching $100 by the end of the year stood at 29% YES, down from 37% the previous day.

Attention now turns to how U.S. regulators respond, and how authorities weigh operator-level oversight against chain-level rules has become a defining question for the broader digital asset industry. Market participants are monitoring for any regulatory announcements that align with Yan's proposal, as changes to compliance frameworks could affect Hyperliquid's access to the U.S. market and the token's performance. Observers are also watching whether Hyperliquid announces partnerships or technological advancements consistent with U.S. regulatory expectations.