Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, said on Oct. 29 that it has signed a definitive agreement with Trade[XYZ] to bring perpetual futures markets built on Hyperliquid onshore in the United States. The plan depends on regulatory approvals, and neither company has given a launch date.

What the agreement covers

Under the deal, ICE becomes the exclusive operator of Trade[XYZ]'s regulated markets and plans to build a new retail market and clearing structure for them. ICE is also making a strategic investment in Trade[XYZ]. The amount was not disclosed. ICE said the minority stake is not expected to have a material impact on its 2026 adjusted financial results or its capital return and deleveraging plans.

Hyperliquid described the split of roles in a post on X. It serves as the underlying technology through HIP-3*, Trade[XYZ] designs and implements the markets, and ICE runs the regulated market and clearing side. Hyperliquid also said that existing Trade[XYZ] HIP-3 markets "will remain unchanged."

Trade[XYZ] said its markets on Hyperliquid have passed $650 billion in volume in just over a year.

"Much of the world trades them. Until now, Americans could only watch," the company wrote.

A retail business kept apart from ICE's core

ICE says its current participation is more than 99% institutional, so it treats retail as a new market and not an extension of the old one. The new unit will run through a separate clearing structure. According to the press release, ICE's commercial hedgers and existing institutional customers "bear no exposure to the trading or counterparty risk of retail traders" on the new platform.

A perpetual contract has no expiry date, so it does not lock in a price for a future date. ICE says that suits retail traders who want short-term exposure at any hour, while institutions manage risk over months and years through traditional futures. ICE Chair and CEO Jeffrey Sprecher said:

"We see these perp markets as additive to our futures markets, not a replacement for them."

Perpetual swaps were popularized by the crypto exchange BitMEX in 2016. They use periodic funding payments between long and short traders to keep the contract price close to the underlying asset.

How US customers would get access

Once approved, customers who pass KYC and anti-money-laundering checks are expected to trade through futures commission merchants that join the platform. ICE and Trade[XYZ] said they will also seek approvals needed to support leveraged trading.

One channel is ICE's joint venture with OKX. ICE invested in the crypto exchange earlier this year, and the venture is meant to connect OKX's global retail customers to ICE-operated markets. Its own US broker-dealer and FCM approvals are still pending, which means distribution through OKX is not guaranteed on any schedule.

Planned contracts cover equities, indices, commodities, FX and crypto. Trade[XYZ] sells the pitch in a tagline:

"Anything. Anytime. On ICE[XYZ]." The company said it will keep expanding its existing HIP-3 markets alongside the US venture and expects "both to flourish."

Regulators, rivals and a famous backer

The Trade[XYZ] post says the US market is "subject to CFTC approval." ICE's press release refers only to regulatory approvals in general.

Trade[XYZ] also named investor Stan Druckenmiller as one of a small group of backers.

"For more than four decades, few investors have anticipated the great turns in markets as often as Stan," the company wrote.

Druckenmiller is best known for running Duquesne Capital and for his years managing money for George Soros's Quantum Fund.

The move fits a pattern for ICE. In October 2025 it announced a strategic investment of up to $2 billion in the prediction market Polymarket. In the US, Coinbase Derivatives introduced perpetual-style futures in July 2025, though with a long fixed expiry and not a true perpetual structure.

Hyperliquid has restricted US users on its main interface, which is the gap this plan targets. Perpetuals with high leverage can wipe out a position quickly, and regulators may focus on that point in a retail product.

Trade[XYZ] said it will "share more on products, eligibility, and timing as approvals progress."

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