Hyperliquid Founder Calls for Trading Platform Oversight Without Direct Blockchain Regulation

Hyperliquid founder Jeff Yan believes U.S. regulators should focus on the financial companies operating on his blockchain rather than subjecting the underlying network to direct regulatory oversight.

In a Bloomberg interview on Thursday, Yan said businesses running trading platforms on Hyperliquid should be responsible for meeting regulatory standards. He compared this approach to internet infrastructure, which financial institutions rely on without requiring the infrastructure itself to operate under financial market regulations.

Yan argued that oversight should apply where operational controls are exercised, placing responsibility on the companies deploying and managing the technology.

Hyperliquid is best known for its perpetual futures trading platform, which remains unavailable to customers in the United States. However, the ecosystem could soon have a route into the American market through a regulated third-party operator.

Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, plans to provide U.S. investors with access to derivatives powered by Hyperliquid technology through a regulated exchange. The move could bring a firm overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) into the ecosystem without making Hyperliquid’s own perpetual futures platform available to U.S. users.

Under Yan’s proposed model, Wall Street institutions could develop trading services using Hyperliquid’s blockchain while remaining responsible for complying with the regulations governing their operations. The network itself would not need to function as a regulated exchange.

Yan said Hyperliquid was not designed to displace existing financial systems, adding that its technology could also benefit firms that currently operate markets through traditional infrastructure.

His position follows comments from President Donald Trump in August, when Trump said the CFTC was working to bring Hyperliquid into the United States under federal regulation.