How the proposed ICE[XYZ] venue would work
The partnership assigns distinct roles to the three participants: Hyperliquid would provide the blockchain infrastructure, Trade[XYZ] would establish the regulated market and clearing structure, and ICE would serve as a specialized market administrator while investing in Trade[XYZ]. U.S. customers would gain access to the on-chain perpetual futures through Hyperliquid's HIP-3 framework if regulators approve the plan.
Branded ICE[XYZ], the proposed venue would have its own dedicated regulatory and clearing structure, separate from ICE's institutional futures and clearing business. ICE says more than 99% of its current participation is institutional. It views retail perpetuals as an additional market opportunity, not a substitute for that business.
Retail distribution would rely on partners, brokers and platforms traders already use. Those channels are expected to include ICE's joint venture with OKX, but that venture must separately secure its pending approvals to operate as a U.S.-registered broker-dealer and futures commission merchant.
ICE says its minority investment in Trade[XYZ] should not materially affect its adjusted financial results for 2026, capital returns or deleveraging plans. Billionaire investor Stan Druckenmiller is also among a small group backing the project following the partnership. Elon Musk drew further attention to the news by reposting Druckenmiller's announcement.
HYPE rally draws a $110-$120 forecast
ZyCrypto described HYPE as the crypto market's biggest mover on the announcement day. After gaining more than 20%, the token was trading at $96.30, below the $97.96 all-time high it had set the previous month.
Analyst Michael van de Poppe sees HYPE reaching $110-$120 soon. Citing preparations for the U.S. offering, he identified what he considers an imminent bullish formation. His outlook rests on a successful launch encouraging further Hyperliquid adoption and lifting the token toward that price range.
Existing Hyperliquid markets would remain open
The U.S. proposal would not replace Trade[XYZ]'s existing Hyperliquid markets. Those would continue operating alongside the new venue. Trade[XYZ] says they have generated more than $650 billion in trading volume in just over a year.
HIP-3 went live on mainnet in October 2025 and allows builders to launch their own perpetual markets by staking 500,000 HYPE. Hyperliquid identifies Trade[XYZ] as the framework's largest deployer, with more than 100 markets covering equities, indices, commodities, foreign exchange and pre-IPO companies. Its markets average about $3 billion to $4 billion in trading volume over 24 hours.
Trade[XYZ] also obtained a license from S&P Dow Jones Indices in March 2026 to use the S&P 500 for its first officially licensed perpetual contract.
Other investments and a separate U.S. proposal
The Trade[XYZ] agreement adds to ICE's investments in crypto-adjacent businesses. In October 2025, ICE agreed to invest up to $2 billion in Polymarket. It also made a strategic investment in OKX earlier in 2026.
A separate effort to bring Hyperliquid-based perpetual futures to U.S. customers preceded the ICE deal. Payward, Kraken's parent company, announced plans to use HIP-3 for such markets, also subject to regulatory approval.
Under Payward's proposal, its regulated exchange and clearing organization, Bitnomial, would establish and administer the markets and oversee clearing and settlement. NinjaTrader Clearing would carry the customer accounts.
