ICE urges regulators to allow 24/7 on-chain perpetuals

Intercontinental Exchange Chief Executive Jeffrey Sprecher urged regulators at a Bernstein conference Wednesday to allow regulated exchanges to offer around-the-clock on-chain perpetual futures trading. He said regulated venues are effectively barred while similar products already operate in the crypto sector.

ICE has held multiple exploratory discussions with decentralized exchange Hyperliquid to learn about on-chain perpetuals and potential links between crypto platforms and traditional finance, Sprecher told the conference.

The remarks come as several market participants pursue ways to enable continuous trading and settlement using blockchain rails. In late May, the crypto exchange OKX said it will introduce perpetual futures tied to ICE’s Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude benchmarks, the first product under a partnership that followed ICE’s strategic investment in the exchange at a reported $25 billion valuation. In March, the New York Stock Exchange began work with a tokenization platform to develop blockchain-based stock trading infrastructure aimed at 24/7 trading and settlement.

Sprecher highlighted Hyperliquid’s rapid growth and the competitive pressure always-on crypto derivatives venues place on regulated exchanges. He said, “If you haven’t heard about it, it’s bigger than Nasdaq, okay? It’s 11 people.”

Market data show Hyperliquid ranks among the larger decentralized exchanges by volume, with about a 3.7% market share and roughly $195 million in daily trading volume. The platform generated an estimated $15.6 million in weekly fees in recent weeks and has added features such as canonical prediction markets for off-chain events.

Investor commentary points to a changing view of the platform. Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise, called Hyperliquid’s native token “one of the most mispriced assets in crypto today,” noting many investors still view the token mainly as tied to a perpetuals DEX even as the platform expands.

ICE has not announced plans to launch an on-chain perpetuals venue. The company’s exploratory talks and investment partnerships signal continued interest in connecting regulated markets with decentralized trading infrastructure.