News18 June, 20263 min read

Hyperliquid lobby blasts CME lawsuit against CFTC over crypto perps

Hyperliquid's lobbying group said CME's lawsuit against the CFTC is an attempt by the largest U.S. derivatives exchange to shut down regulated access to perps.

Hyperliquid's lobbying group called out CME Group's lawsuit against the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), framing it as an incumbent exchange trying to block U.S. access to perpetual futures.

The Hyperliquid Policy Center, an advocacy group tied to the Hyperliquid ecosystem, said in a June 18 post on X that U.S. traders had long been "pushed offshore to trade perpetual futures while the rest of the world could trade them at home."

"This spring, U.S. regulators finally opened a compliant path to these markets here. Today, the largest U.S. exchange, CME, went to court to close it."

The Hyperliquid Policy Center

CME, the Chicago-based derivatives giant, earlier sued the CFTC and its chairman Michael Selig after the agency allowed Kalshi and Coinbase to offer perpetual futures to U.S. traders.

CME argues the products are swaps under Dodd-Frank and that the CFTC acted improperly by approving them as futures.
The lawsuit seeks to void the CFTC's May 29 approval for Kalshi to list a bitcoin perp and challenge a policy statement that lets other regulated futures exchanges offer similar contracts.

Why Hyperliquid is pushing back

The Hyperliquid Policy Center said the lawsuit shows what happens "when one company controls a market," citing Better Markets' estimate that CME handles about 92% of U.S. exchange-traded derivatives volume.

"When one venue holds that much volume, everyone else carries the cost. Less choice, higher prices."

The Hyperliquid Policy Center

The group also called perps "the first genuinely new derivatives product to reach U.S.-regulated markets in over a decade," arguing that more exchange competition would benefit users.

"The real question is whether Americans get access to innovative new financial products, or whether one incumbent keeps them locked out," the group wrote.

The bigger picture: ICE, CME push Washington to rein in Hyperliquid oil trading

A spokesperson for the CFTC told Reuters the lawsuit was "frivolous" and accused CME of using "lawfare" instead of competing in the market.

"Incumbents fear the future and having to compete on a level playing field," the CFTC spokesperson said.

Kalshi and Coinbase were not named as defendants. Kalshi spokesperson Elisabeth Diana told Reuters the dispute "isn't about the law" but about "the fear of competition," while Coinbase chief policy officer Faryar Shirzad said competition and innovation are the "bedrock of vibrant financial markets."

More context: CME CEO steps down after clashing with crypto perps and Polymarket

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