HYPE soared 11% after Trump commented on Hyperliquid's entry into the United States

Who will believe it! One word from Donald Trump in front of the leaders of Coinbase, Ripple and Robinhood was enough to shake the cryptocurrency market. The U.S. president said the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is currently developing a legal access path for Hyperliquid. Hyperliquid is the main decentralized perpetual contract platform. Of course, no regulatory authorization has yet been obtained. However, the market reaction was immediate: HYPE tokens jumped 11%.

Brief summary

Donald Trump said CFTC Chairman Mike Selig is working to introduce Hyperliquid into the United States in a "compliant and legal" manner.

HYPE token prices are higher, with varying sources: CoinDesk reports 11% and BeInCrypto reports a 6% increase in 24 hours.

No formal approvals have been announced yet. The CFTC is expected to provide more details at its August 20 meeting.

Trump placed the crypto platform Hyperliquid at the heart of the CFTC agenda

The news was released on Wednesday, August 19, at an event hosted by the White House attended by crypto and technology industry leaders. Trump said:

"As far as I know, Mike Selig is also working hard to bring Hyperliquid into the United States in a fully compliant and legal manner, and he is working hard to do so."

This meeting is particularly important because of the participation of many figures in the encryption field:

Mike Selig-Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), who oversees the U.S. derivatives market;

Paul Atkins-Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC);

Brian Armstrong-CEO of Coinbase;

Brad Garlinhaus-CEO of Ripple;

Vlad Tenev-Co-Founder and CEO of Robinhood.

In addition, representatives from Nasdaq and the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE, parent company of the New York Stock Exchange) also attended the meeting.

Hyperliquid is a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange focusing on perpetual contracts ("perps"). These derivatives allow users to make bets on the price of crypto assets, have no expiration date, and do not rely on traditional intermediaries. Users only need to connect their crypto wallets directly to the platform.

As of now, Hyperliquid prohibits U.S. residents from accessing its services and lists them as "restricted persons" in its terms of use.

Trump's announcement comes at a critical moment

The CFTC is scheduled to hold the first meeting of its Innovation Advisory Committee in Washington on Thursday, August 20. The agenda covers:

Crypto Assets;

Artificial Intelligence;

Forecasting Markets.

Selig mentioned in his speech that he would take the opportunity to further elaborate on the regulatory roadmap.

Therefore, the preliminary preparation work has been completed. The Hyperliquid Policy Center and wallet provider Phantom jointly filed a petition with the CFTC in July involving a request to exempt the DeFi protocol from rules normally applicable to traditional cryptocurrency exchanges.

This move is part of a broader trend: Since April 2025, the CFTC has authorized Coinbase Derivatives to provide perpetual futures contracts for Bitcoin and Ethereum. Forecasting market platform Kalshi has also received similar authorization.

However, introducing Hyperliquid itself into U.S. territory is another matter. The fact is that U.S. derivatives exchanges must fulfill registration, customer protection, and market supervision obligations. To date, these restrictions have kept many crypto platforms away from the U.S. market.

The crypto market responded quickly: HYPE surged by more than 10%

Of course, the increase varied depending on the source. However, all parties agreed that the price of HYPE tokens has increased significantly.

CoinDesk measurements show that HYPE tokens jumped 11% after Trump's statement.

BeInCrypto reported an increase of more than 6% in 24 hours.

As of writing, Hyperliquid was trading at approximately $69, an increase of more than 19% in 24 hours.

HYPE's market value currently reaches approximately US$15.1 billion, ranking 10th among crypto assets. The token even surpassed Dogecoin in May this year and ranked among the top ten.

Interpretation: Hyperliquid is playing a growing role in the encryption ecosystem.

Top ten crypto assets (source: CoinMarketCap)

What impact does it have on the crypto platform Hyperliquid?

Legal entry into the U.S. crypto market has implications that go far beyond the message surface effect. That's because us traders have the deepest derivatives markets in the world. Opening up this space could bring additional transaction volume and fee revenue to the Hyperliquid ecosystem.

This could also further legitimize the decentralized perpetual contract model over traditional players such as CME Group. The latter has historically dominated this field through centralized and regulated structures.

However, this prospect is not without controversy. According to multiple reports, CME Group and ICE have pressured to tighten controls over Hyperliquid. They cited the risk of market manipulation and the risk of sanctions as reasons.

Compliance issues have not yet been resolved. The user registration system is indeed difficult to apply to unmanaged and fully chained order books. Similarly, the Know Your Customer (KYC) controls and leverage limits that traditional cryptocurrency exchanges must implement also face challenges.

In any case, Trump's statement reflects the CFTC's real intention to include Hyperliquid in the U.S. regulatory framework. However, this neither represents approval nor gives a timetable. The August 20 meeting will be the first substantive test, which will determine the next step for HYPE cryptocurrency. The story deserves close attention...