HYPE traded at $71.50 at 06:24 UTC on August 20, up 23% over 24 hours, after President Donald Trump said the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is working to bring Hyperliquid into the United States.
Market capitalization reached $18.04 billion, up 22.6%, with 24-hour volume up 407.42% to $1.31 billion, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Circulating supply is 252.39 million HYPE against a maximum of 952.5 million, giving a fully diluted valuation of $68.1 billion. CoinMarketCap ranked HYPE ninth by market capitalization.
What Trump Actually Said
Speaking at a White House meeting with technology and crypto executives on Wednesday, Trump said: “I understand that Mike is also working to bring Hyperliquid into the United States in a fully compliant and legal fashion. Working very hard on that.” The reference is to Michael Selig, chairman of the CFTC.
Trump did not say what an onshore version of Hyperliquid would look like, what approvals it would require, or on what timeline. No filing, registration, or approval has been announced by the CFTC.
Hyperliquid Currently Blocks US Users
Hyperliquid is a decentralized exchange for perpetual futures—derivatives that track an asset’s price with no expiry date, allowing positions to be held indefinitely. Its front end blocks US IP addresses, and its terms of use treat US persons as restricted.
The platform drew Wall Street attention this year through demand for contracts tied to real-world assets, including equities and commodities. It runs on its own blockchain and has grown into a major venue for a form of trading that historically operated largely outside the US because of regulatory restrictions.
American investors can currently gain exposure to the token through spot exchange-traded products, including Bitwise’s BHYP. The Crypto Times reported in March on the ETF filings from Bitwise, Grayscale, and 21Shares.
Traditional Exchange Shares Fell as HYPE Rose
Shares in several established derivatives venues declined after the remarks. Cboe Global Markets fell as much as 6.1% and CME Group as much as 3.4% to session lows, according to Bloomberg.
Nasdaq chief executive Adena Friedman and Intercontinental Exchange chief executive Jeffrey Sprecher both attended the meeting. CME and ICE have previously urged regulators to scrutinize Hyperliquid, citing potential price manipulation and sanctions-evasion risks, according to Bloomberg.
Options Activity Preceded the Announcement
Options volume in Hyperliquid Strategies, a publicly traded company built around holding the token, ran at almost eight times its 30-day average, with more than 120,000 calls traded against fewer than 8,000 puts and roughly $10 million in premium changing hands, CNBC reported.
CNBC also reported heavy call-buying in the hours before Trump spoke, with just under $2 million in calls trading before 3 p.m., including activity it described as showing signs of indiscriminate and rushed buying. It cited one trade around 11 a.m. in which a buyer spent $65,000 on 719 October calls at a strike where only 67 positions were open.
Hyperliquid Strategies shares rose about 30% before the closing bell, taking their year-to-date gain past 163%. Hyperliquid Strategies is a digital-asset treasury company—a listed vehicle that accumulates cryptocurrency—giving equity investors indirect exposure to HYPE.
Chief executive David Schamis told CNBC the company had been trying for a while to work out how to enter the US market, that the CFTC had been responsive, and that a presidential mention at a press conference indicates priority.
Groundwork Predates the Remark
The CFTC cleared Coinbase Derivatives to offer perpetual-style bitcoin and ether futures in April 2025, with trading beginning that July, and later cleared a similar product for Kalshi.
Selig said in a June interview with Bankless that on-chain technology of the kind Hyperliquid uses will transform markets and that the agency wants to create a path. The Hyperliquid Policy Center—a separate advocacy organization led by Jake Chervinsky, not the exchange itself—petitioned the CFTC jointly with wallet provider Phantom in July, asking regulators to exempt DeFi protocols from legacy exchange rules, and filed with the CFTC on perpetual futures on August 7.
The CFTC’s Innovation Advisory Committee holds its inaugural meeting today from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Eastern, with sessions on crypto regulation, artificial intelligence, and prediction markets.
Trump Also Pressed on CLARITY
Trump used the meeting to urge Congress to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, calling it powerful structured legislation that would keep the US ahead of China. A Senate cloture motion on the bill is scheduled to ripen on September 15. The Crypto Times previewed the meeting yesterday.
Attendees included Coinbase chief executive Brian Armstrong, Ripple’s Brad Garlinghouse, Robinhood’s Vlad Tenev, Kraken co-chief executive Arjun Sethi, Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Friedman and Sprecher, alongside SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and Selig.
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