Jeff Yan, the founder of Hyperliquid, believes U.S. regulatory scrutiny should focus on financial businesses operating on his blockchain rather than the network itself.
Speaking with Bloomberg on Thursday, Yan said companies that run trading venues on Hyperliquid should be responsible for fulfilling regulatory obligations. He compared the model to financial institutions that rely on internet infrastructure, noting that oversight should target the businesses conducting financial activities rather than the underlying technology.
According to Yan, regulation should be applied where operational controls are maintained, making the companies that deploy and manage the technology accountable for their activities.
Hyperliquid is widely known for its perpetual futures trading platform, which is still unavailable to U.S. customers. However, a potential route into the American market is emerging through third-party operators using its technology.
Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, plans to offer U.S. investors access to derivatives built on Hyperliquid technology through a regulated exchange. This could bring a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-regulated operator into the ecosystem, even as Hyperliquid’s own perpetual futures platform remains inaccessible to American traders.
Under Yan’s proposed framework, traditional financial institutions could establish trading services on Hyperliquid without requiring the blockchain itself to become a regulated exchange. Instead, the firms providing those services would be responsible for complying with the rules applicable to their operations.
Yan emphasized that Hyperliquid is not intended to replace traditional financial markets. He believes the technology could also help businesses that currently operate trading systems through conventional infrastructure.
His comments follow remarks by President Donald Trump in August, when Trump said the CFTC was working to bring Hyperliquid into the U.S. market under federal regulatory oversight.
