HYPE’s 13% glow-up has ICE circling the Hyperliquid playground 🐳

HYPE rose about 13% on Thursday to roughly $91 after Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, agreed to become the exclusive operator of Trade[XYZ]’s regulated markets and take a strategic stake in the company. The token climbed from a daily open of $80.69 to a high of $92.10 on KuCoin, leaving it about 7% below its September record near $98 and putting its market capitalization at around $22.4 billion.

The proposed U.S. venue would provide perpetual futures around the clock on stocks, indices, commodities, foreign exchange and cryptocurrencies, using infrastructure from the Hyperliquid exchange. ICE plans to establish a dedicated retail market and clearing structure, while Trade[XYZ] will operate the Hyperliquid-based markets and expand its existing product range. The offering still requires regulatory approvals and has no launch date.

ICE and Trade[XYZ] said their Hyperliquid markets have generated more than $650 billion in trading volume in less than a year. The announcement follows Ripple Prime’s introduction of traditional-finance perpetuals through Trade[XYZ] on Hyperliquid, giving eligible institutional clients access to products covering stocks, commodities and indices.

Verified U.S. customers would connect through futures commission merchants, with ICE seeking the approvals needed to support leveraged trading. ICE also plans to distribute the product through its joint venture with OKX, whose own approvals are pending. ICE bought into OKX at a $25 billion valuation in March, and ICE Chair and CEO Jeffrey Sprecher described the perpetuals as “additive to our futures markets, not a replacement for them.” ICE said more than 99% of its current participation is institutional and that it will run the retail unit separately from its institutional futures and clearing franchise.

Stan Druckenmiller, the macro investor who ran the Duquesne Capital hedge fund for about 30 years and said it never had a losing year, publicly backed the agreement as a Trade[XYZ] investor. “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. “As a market participant, I am looking forward to using their innovative product to enhance my investment process.” Elon Musk also quoted Druckenmiller’s announcement on his X account with the single-word response, “Interesting.” President Donald Trump said in August that the CFTC was working to allow Hyperliquid to operate legally in the United States, where the exchange is currently geofenced.