Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, has entered a definitive agreement with Trade.xyz to create a regulated U.S. market for perpetual futures built on Hyperliquid infrastructure. The planned venue would offer continuous trading in contracts linked to equities, stock indices, commodities, foreign exchange and cryptocurrencies, accessible through participating brokers after identity and anti-money-laundering checks.

The arrangement remains subject to Commodity Futures Trading Commission approval. No launch date has been set, and the companies have not disclosed specific contract specifications or the full list of eligible participants.

Strategic Investment and Operational Roles

As part of the deal, ICE is making an undisclosed minority strategic investment in Trade.xyz. Under the agreement, ICE will operate the regulated market and its associated clearing structure. The companies intend to keep the new retail-oriented platform separate from ICE’s existing institutional futures operations to isolate risk.

Trade.xyz will supply the technology and market design developed on Hyperliquid. The platform has operated perpetual futures markets on the network since October 2025. Those markets have processed more than $650 billion in cumulative trading volume in just over a year, covering stocks, indices and commodities. Equity-linked contracts alone accounted for $58.9 billion of the $202.36 billion recorded in the second quarter of 2026.

Trade.xyz will continue operating and expanding its existing non-U.S. Hyperliquid markets, known as HIP-3 offerings, alongside the proposed domestic venue.

Investor Backing and Retail Focus

Billionaire investor Stan Druckenmiller has joined a small group of backers supporting the initiative. Druckenmiller, chairman and chief investment officer of Duquesne Family Office, said he looked forward to using the products to improve his investment process.

ICE Chairman and Chief Executive Jeffrey Sprecher described the move as a response to growing retail participation that increasingly seeks short-duration, around-the-clock exposure. He characterized the perpetual contracts as additive to traditional futures rather than a replacement. ICE’s current futures activity remains overwhelmingly institutional.

Access for U.S. customers would occur through futures commission merchants and brokers. ICE’s existing joint venture with OKX is viewed as a potential distribution channel once that entity secures necessary broker-dealer and futures commission merchant approvals.

Regulatory Context and Parallel Efforts

Perpetual futures lack fixed expiration dates; positions can remain open indefinitely provided margin requirements are met, with periodic funding payments keeping prices aligned with reference assets. Such products have generally been unavailable to U.S. residents on Hyperliquid.

The ICE-Trade.xyz plan follows other industry proposals to bring Hyperliquid-linked contracts onshore. One separate initiative involves Payward, parent of Kraken, seeking to offer regulated perpetual futures through Bitnomial using permissioned HIP-3 infrastructure, with NinjaTrader Clearing handling customer accounts.

Earlier this year, Trade.xyz and the Hyperliquid Policy Center submitted a request to the CFTC covering energy commodity perpetuals, including West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude. Hyperliquid has also introduced optional permissioning features that allow market operators to restrict access via on-chain allowlists.

Neither ICE nor Trade.xyz has confirmed formal regulatory filings for the new U.S. venue. Further details on products, eligibility criteria and timing are expected as the approval process advances.