HYPE, the native token of the Hyperliquid decentralized perpetual futures exchange, surged 5% to a new all-time high above $66 on May 29, 2026, as two events collided in the same trading session: the CFTC issued its first-ever approval of a regulated U.S. crypto perpetual futures contract, and the CEO of the company that owns the New York Stock Exchange told an analyst conference that Hyperliquid is "bigger than NASDAQ."

Two catalysts, one day

The CFTC approved KalshiEX's BTCPERP contract on May 29 (Press Release PR 9240-26), the first time a U.S. regulator has cleared a crypto perpetual futures product for a registered U.S. exchange. The agency paired that approval with a Policy Statement on the listing of perpetual contracts (PR 9242-26) and a staff advisory on 24/7 trading, clearing, and settlement (PR 9239-26) — a coordinated signal that regulators are building a framework for the product class rather than approving a one-off.

Hours later, Jeffrey Sprecher, founder and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange — the parent company of the NYSE — spoke at a Bernstein analyst conference. "This Hyperliquid that we're talking, if you haven't heard about it, it's bigger than NASDAQ, okay? It's 11 people. You look at it, you're like, wow, that's pretty something," Sprecher said in a May 27 fireside chat with analyst Chinedu Bolu, remarks reported by CoinDesk at 12:05 p.m. UTC on May 29. It is the most senior traditional finance exchange executive to publicly name the platform.

What "bigger than NASDAQ" means — and doesn't

The comparison holds on one axis and not others. Hyperliquid commands more than 70% of the decentralized perp-DEX market by volume, per industry data. On daily perpetual futures notional turnover, it clears billions of dollars — including off-hours oil derivatives on weekends when ICE's traditional energy markets are closed, a pattern JPMorgan analysts have flagged separately.

By company valuation, the comparison does not hold. HYPE's market capitalization stands at roughly $15.1 billion against Nasdaq Inc.'s approximately $50 billion as of May 29. Sprecher made that point himself: he was praising Hyperliquid's activity level and team, not asserting equal market value.

The "11 people" refers to Hyperliquid Labs, the core development entity. The broader project runs on a validator set operating the underlying Layer-1 blockchain and open-source contributors.

The regulatory fault line

Sprecher's attention landed on Hyperliquid partly because of what it is not: regulated. Under U.S. law, perpetual futures are swaps subject to Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act, which requires reporting, margining, and dealer registration. ICE operates under those rules. Hyperliquid, incorporated offshore, does not.

"Why are you prohibiting us from doing this when it's already happening? And can't we have a level playing field? And by the way, this stuff is global," Sprecher said, framing it as an unlevel competitive environment rather than a complaint about the DEX's existence. He said he expects the regulatory picture to clarify within "the next few months," with the likely resolution being either a new regulated perpetual futures category or an extension of Dodd-Frank and Europe's EMIR rules to offshore venues.

The CFTC's Kalshi approval on the same day — creating exactly the kind of regulated on-ramp Sprecher described — sharpened the contrast. Regulated venues now have a path to offer the same product. The question is whether that path draws activity back onshore or simply validates that demand already exists at scale offshore.

For HYPE, the market answered clearly on May 29: above $66, all-time high, on the day Wall Street finally said the name out loud.

Sources: CFTC Press Releases PR 9240-26, PR 9242-26, PR 9239-26 (May 29, 2026); CoinDesk, "ICE CEO calls Hyperliquid bigger than NASDAQ, says he's met its founders," May 29, 2026, 12:05 p.m. UTC; Cryptobriefing, "Hyperliquid hits new all-time high after CFTC perp approval, NYSE boss endorsement," May 29, 2026.