Hyperliquid emerges as Wall Street’s 24/7 perps venue

Hyperliquid has become a 24/7 trading venue where hedge funds, proprietary traders and crypto-focused funds open and close perpetual futures when conventional futures markets are closed. Market participants use the platform on weekends and overnight to adjust positions tied to commodities, equities and crypto.

Perpetual futures are derivatives that let traders take leveraged positions without a fixed expiry; regular funding payments between longs and shorts help keep contract prices aligned with underlying markets. Hyperliquid runs on-chain and remains open while traditional exchanges are offline, allowing continual price discovery and position management.

The shift to on-chain perps has been used to act on events that occur after hours. One commodities trader closed a crude oil position on a Saturday on Hyperliquid and booked a reported 243% gain hours before conventional futures reopened.

Jeffrey Sprecher, chair and chief executive of Intercontinental Exchange, described the platform as “a wake-up call.” ICE has met with Hyperliquid representatives to evaluate on-chain perpetual markets and is coordinating with a crypto exchange partner to list oil perpetual contracts tied to Brent and WTI benchmarks.

Trading volumes on Hyperliquid have risen rapidly. The platform has regularly cleared more than $1 billion in daily volume and processed roughly $190 billion in a recent month, accounting for nearly 4% of the global perpetuals market and a majority share of decentralized perpetuals trading. Research desks at major brokerages estimated the venue priced in roughly 80% of a recent oil move before conventional exchanges resumed trading.

Executives at U.S. futures exchanges have asked the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and lawmakers to review the expansion of on-chain perpetuals, arguing that oil-linked products traded on decentralized venues could have spillover effects for traditional commodity markets. Regulators and industry groups are examining whether existing rules apply and whether oversight changes are needed.

Running perpetual contracts on a decentralized exchange allows continuous, permissionless trading and automated clearing. That model raises questions about connections with regulated clearinghouses and how traditional market participants will monitor or interact with on-chain activity.

Regulatory decisions and industry responses in the coming months will shape how much price discovery and large-flow trading take place on decentralized platforms while conventional markets are closed.