HYPE jumped 13% to roughly $91 on Thursday after Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the New York Stock Exchange, announced plans to bring Hyperliquid-based perpetual futures to the United States.
The token climbed from a daily open of $80.69 to a high of $92.10 on KuCoin. HYPE now trades at around a $22.4 billion market capitalization, about 7% below its September record near $98.
ICE and Trade[XYZ], a company that runs markets for real-world assets on Hyperliquid, signed a definitive agreement making ICE the exclusive operator of Trade[XYZ]'s regulated markets. ICE is taking a strategic stake in Trade[XYZ].
ICE will build a dedicated retail market and clearing structure for the product. The deal still needs regulatory approvals and has no launch date.
Trade[XYZ] currently offers eligible users outside the U.S. perpetuals on stocks, equity indices, commodities and currencies, with Hyperliquid providing the underlying infrastructure. Perpetual futures are derivatives with no expiry date that let traders take leveraged positions.
Macro investor Stan Druckenmiller, who ran Duquesne Capital for about 30 years, publicly backed the deal as an investor in Trade[XYZ]. "I am excited to be an investor in trade(xyz) as they partner with ICE to bring 24/7 perpetual futures on Hyperliquid to the United States," Druckenmiller wrote on X.
The U.S. markets will comply with know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering rules requiring identity checks. ICE will seek approvals to support leveraged trading. Verified customers would connect through futures commission merchants, and ICE plans to distribute the product through its joint venture with OKX.
ICE Chair and CEO Jeffrey Sprecher described the perpetuals as "additive to our futures markets, not a replacement for them." More than 99% of ICE's participation today is institutional, so retail traders represent a new business line that ICE will run separately from its institutional futures and clearing franchise.