Hyperliquid Seeks SEC Approval for Pre-IPO Perpetual Contracts

Hyperliquid Policy Center and trade[XYZ] have submitted a joint request to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to create a regulatory framework for pre-IPO perpetual contracts. These products, known as IPOP, would provide cash-settled price exposure to companies approaching public listing without conveying shares, voting rights, IPO allocations, or claims against the issuer.

The proposed instrument has already been tested in five completed markets tied to Cerebras, Quantinuum, SpaceX, SK Hynix, and ChangXin Memory Technologies. According to the applicants' data, each contract's final price before trading began was within 0.44% to 7.23% of the relevant stock's opening price.

The groups are calling for five regulatory pillars: determining whether equity-linked perpetuals are security futures or security-based swaps, product disclosures, listing eligibility, investor access, and market integrity. They also recommend that IPOP holders be treated as derivatives investors rather than equity owners, with disclosed oracle rules and market controls to prevent price manipulation.

The SEC has posted the joint submission publicly but has not endorsed or approved the proposed products. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) policy suggests that coordinated review by both federal regulators would benefit equity perpetuals.