HPC Pushes CFTC to Prioritize Perpetual Contracts Amid Growing Demand
The Hyperliquid Policy Center (HPC) has urged the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to prioritize perpetual contracts in its innovation agenda. In a filing made on August 27, 2026, HPC argued that perpetual contracts are critical to the CFTC's innovation work and meet real hedging needs.
The demand for perpetual contracts has been growing, with offshore trading volume exceeding $500 billion. Tyler Winklevoss of Gemini stated that US firms are being left behind as perpetual contracts make up a bulk of global digital assets trading volume.
Perpetual contracts have no settlement date and cannot be rolled over or delivered. Instead, money is transferred between long and short holders by recurring funding payments, allowing the price to move back towards a reference price.
The CFTC has shown a friendlier vibe towards perpetuals, approving the first US-listed perpetual futures contract in May and releasing a policy statement on continuous trading. However, not everyone is on board, with CME Group taking the CFTC to court in June arguing that perpetuals are swaps and not futures.