A subsidiary of Nasdaq-listed Hyperliquid Strategies has applied to become a futures commission merchant (FCM), the company disclosed in its quarterly results Thursday. An FCM is a CFTC-registered broker that holds customer funds and handles futures orders. If approved, the unit would carry US client accounts for permissioned markets built on Hyperliquid, allowing Americans to trade perpetual futures within a regulated framework.
Background on Hyperliquid and perpetual futures
Perpetual futures are derivatives with no expiration date that let traders take leveraged positions. Hyperliquid, a major onchain venue for these products, still blocks US users. Its HIP-3 framework lets outside firms launch their own perpetual markets on Hyperliquid’s order book after staking HYPE. A new permissioned version, called HIP-3*, would let a regulated deployer run markets restricted to approved traders, with Hyperliquid acting as neutral infrastructure.
CEO links filing to treasury strategy
“We deployed $802 million this quarter and filed an application to become a futures commission merchant,” CEO David Schamis said. “Those two moves are the same bet.” The firm held about 38.5 million HYPE at the end of September, worth roughly $3.5 billion. More US trading routed through Hyperliquid would likely mean more fees for the protocol, which uses fee revenue to buy back HYPE. An FCM would also give Hyperliquid Strategies a business of its own beyond holding tokens.
Quarterly financial details
During the quarter, the firm spent $785 million buying 9.1 million HYPE and $17 million repurchasing 2.7 million of its own shares, funded largely by $911 million raised through stock sales. It reported $620.6 million in net income, driven almost entirely by $803 million in unrealized gains as HYPE rose from about $65 to $91.
Competitive landscape
Hyperliquid Strategies won’t be alone in pursuing this path. Kraken parent Payward has said it plans to deploy HIP-3* markets through its CFTC-regulated Bitnomial exchange, with NinjaTrader Clearing serving as the FCM. Last week, NYSE owner Intercontinental Exchange agreed to team up with Trade[XYZ] to bring Hyperliquid-based perpetual futures to the US, sending HYPE up 13%. Trade[XYZ] already runs markets on Hyperliquid, including perpetual futures tied to the S&P 500.
Regulators must sign off on both the FCM registration and the permissioned HIP-3 markets it would serve, and the company has given no timeline.
