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Hyperliquid co-founder and CEO Jeff Yan says U.S. regulation should attach to the firms that deploy and operate trading markets on the network—not automatically to Hyperliquid’s Layer-1 blockchain. His proposal is a policy argument, not a new U.S. approval, a CFTC license for Hyperliquid, or a change to the platform’s U.S. access rules.
What Jeff Yan is proposing
In a Bloomberg interview reported on October 15, 2026, Yan drew a line between infrastructure and the businesses that control a financial market. In his view, a regulated company that launches a market on Hyperliquid should be responsible for customer onboarding, geographic restrictions, surveillance, reporting and other compliance duties. The blockchain would provide shared execution and settlement infrastructure.
“The regulation sits at the layer where there are controls, and indeed the deployers are the ones that exercise these controls,” Yan said, according to the interview reporting. That approach treats control—not the underlying code or network—as the key test for deciding where obligations belong.
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Yan also said, “We’re not trying to displace anything. In fact, I think the technology can benefit everyone who currently operates markets in a more traditional setting.” His comments describe a possible regulatory architecture rather than a determination under current U.S. law.
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Blockchain versus the firm operating the market
The distinction matters because a shared blockchain does not necessarily decide who may trade, which customers are blocked, or how suspicious activity is reviewed. Those functions can be implemented by a market deployer or another regulated intermediary.
| Question | Yan’s infrastructure model | Conventional regulated-market approach |
|---|---|---|
| Who controls customer access? | The deploying or operating firm sets onboarding rules, restrictions and permissioning. | The exchange, broker or other registered operator controls access under its applicable rulebook. |
| Who performs surveillance and reporting? | The regulated deployer would handle surveillance, reporting and related controls. | The registered market operator and its regulated clearing and brokerage partners perform those duties. |
| Must the blockchain itself register? | Yan argues that the network should not be regulated automatically merely because it supplies infrastructure. | Registration and compliance obligations attach to the entities and activities covered by U.S. law. |
| How would U.S. customers connect? | Through a regulated intermediary or permissioned market, if approved. | Directly through authorized U.S. trading and clearing entities. |
| Status today | A proposed policy model; no blanket approval has been issued. | Existing requirements remain in force while regulators consider any new framework. |
What HIP-3 does
Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 system allows outside builders to deploy perpetual-futures markets on the network. The Crypto Times reported on October 15, 2026, that a deployer must stake 500,000 HYPE and keep that stake for a minimum of 183 days. The same report described support for permissioned markets that use allowlists, enabling an operator to limit participation to approved accounts.
Those protocol requirements are not the same thing as a U.S. registration or derivatives-market approval. A stake and a holding period are network-level conditions; they do not by themselves provide legal authorization to solicit American customers, operate a U.S. derivatives venue, clear trades or meet federal reporting duties.
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Can Americans trade Hyperliquid legally?
During the period covered by the October 15, 2026 reporting, Hyperliquid’s own perpetual-futures interface remained closed to U.S. customers. That means Yan’s proposal did not reopen the native interface or announce a new right for Americans to trade there.
Whether a U.S. resident may lawfully access a particular perpetual market depends on the entity offering it, the product, customer eligibility, registration status, applicable exemptions and the way orders are cleared and reported. A U.S. customer should not treat the existence of a market on a public blockchain as proof that the market is authorized for U.S. participation.
How Payward’s proposed route could work
Payward, the parent company of Kraken, has proposed offering onchain perpetual futures to U.S. clients through regulated entities. The described structure separates the functions that Yan says should carry the regulatory burden:
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- Bitnomial Exchange: the proposed CFTC-regulated designated contract market where trading would occur.
- Bitnomial Clearinghouse: the registered derivatives clearing organization responsible for clearing the contracts.
- NinjaTrader Clearing: the futures commission merchant expected to hold client accounts and handle the customer-facing brokerage relationship.
- Hyperliquid technology: the onchain execution and settlement infrastructure supporting the markets, subject to the structure regulators approve.
The plan remains subject to regulatory approval. Payward separately announced an agreement to acquire Bitnomial and described Bitnomial as a fully CFTC-licensed U.S. digital-asset derivatives platform; an announced acquisition is not the same as a completed transaction or authorization for a specific Hyperliquid product.
If approved, this arrangement would be a practical test of Yan’s theory: U.S. obligations would be carried by identifiable, regulated intermediaries while the blockchain supplied technology underneath the market. It would not make every Hyperliquid market U.S.-legal or automatically open the network’s native interface to Americans.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the CFTC’s October 2026 rulemaking means
The CFTC published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register on October 13, 2026, concerning crypto-asset transactions and markets. The notice discusses a framework for retail leveraged crypto transactions and related market structures.
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An advance notice starts a rulemaking and comment process. It is not a final rule, does not grant a license, and does not approve Hyperliquid, Payward, Bitnomial or any particular trading arrangement. Any eventual U.S. access model would still need to satisfy the rules and approvals that apply when the relevant agencies act.
Is Hyperliquid getting a CFTC license?
No CFTC license for the Hyperliquid blockchain was announced in the reported interview or in the rulemaking notice. Yan is arguing that regulation should focus on the firms deploying and operating markets. The only concrete U.S. pathway described is a proposed structure involving Bitnomial Exchange, Bitnomial Clearinghouse and NinjaTrader Clearing, and that structure remains pending approval.
The practical question is therefore not simply whether a blockchain is licensed. It is which legal entity controls U.S. customer access, operates the market, performs surveillance and reporting, and clears the resulting trades.
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