The U.S. crypto derivatives market is undergoing a fundamental restructuring as regulators open doors that were sealed shut just months ago. Hyperliquid, a blockchain-based perpetual futures platform, is now pursuing a regulatory pathway to serve American traders through regulated intermediaries, following a series of landmark CFTC decisions that have dismantled barriers separating offshore crypto derivatives from the U.S. financial system. Meanwhile, institutional infrastructure is catching up: Copper, a blockchain-based custody and collateral platform, has become a registered broker-dealer and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member in the United States, signaling that serious institutional players are building the plumbing for a more integrated crypto-traditional finance ecosystem.

What Changed at the CFTC in May 2026?

The regulatory landscape shifted dramatically on May 29, 2026, when the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved KalshiEX's Bitcoin perpetual futures contract and confirmed that certain crypto perpetual contracts offered by foreign exchanges can qualify as foreign futures under existing regulations. On the same day, CFTC staff provided no-action relief allowing Coinbase Financial Markets to transfer customer crypto assets to an affiliated foreign broker for use as margin under specified conditions. These decisions created a blueprint that other platforms are now following. Kraken subsequently launched regulated perpetual futures for eligible U.S. customers in June 2026, demonstrating that the pathway is not theoretical.

Perpetual futures are derivatives that resemble traditional futures contracts but have no expiration date. Instead of expiring, they use recurring funding payments to keep their prices aligned with underlying markets. This structure has made them dominant in global crypto derivatives trading because they combine leverage, continuous trading, and no contract expiration. However, much of that activity historically developed outside the United States because American derivatives regulations made the products difficult to offer domestically.

How Is Hyperliquid Positioning Itself for U.S. Access?

Hyperliquid operates one of the world's largest onchain perpetual markets, but its core infrastructure has historically been unavailable to U.S. users. The company is now exploring how regulated American intermediaries could potentially provide customers access to perpetual contracts running on Hyperliquid's blockchain, according to reporting on its regulatory push. This approach would not necessarily mean Hyperliquid itself registering as a conventional U.S. exchange. Instead, the company is leveraging the CFTC's recent openness to allow regulated U.S. firms to route customer access to contracts settled through Hyperliquid's infrastructure.

Hyperliquid has been preparing for this regulatory debate for more than a year. In May 2025, Hyperliquid Labs submitted a formal response to the CFTC's request for comments on perpetual derivatives, arguing that blockchain-based perpetual markets can provide transparent execution, continuous trading, and publicly verifiable market information. The company separately responded to the CFTC's consultation on 24/7 derivatives trading, another defining feature of crypto markets.

U.S. access would be transformational for Hyperliquid because it would significantly expand its addressable market. However, the company faces structural and political challenges. Hyperliquid's architecture differs fundamentally from regulated U.S. exchanges: trading occurs onchain, users interact through wallets, and the protocol was designed around permissionless infrastructure rather than conventional brokerage relationships. U.S. access would likely require regulated intermediaries to handle functions such as customer identification, sanctions screening, custody, margin requirements, and other compliance obligations. Major traditional exchanges have reportedly raised concerns with U.S. policymakers about decentralized perpetual platforms, including questions surrounding market manipulation and sanctions compliance.

What Does This Mean for Institutional Crypto Infrastructure?

Copper's establishment as a regulated U.S. broker-dealer and FINRA member represents a parallel shift in how institutions will interact with digital assets. As an SEC-registered broker-dealer and FINRA member firm, Copper Markets (US) Inc. will offer qualified custody, staking, financing solutions, and OTC services, as well as access to the ClearLoop Network, Copper's custodian-agnostic platform for connecting derivative counterparties for pledging and moving crypto and tokenized assets as collateral.

Copper's decision to pursue FINRA broker-dealer registration reflects a strategic focus on building infrastructure for regulated capital markets rather than solely on cryptocurrency trading or custody. A broker-dealer registration enables participation in securities markets and supports activities involving tokenized securities, capital raising, and institutional financial services, subject to applicable regulatory requirements. The company already connects institutional clients with trading venues including Coinbase International Exchange, Kraken MTF, Deribit, OKX, and Bybit, enabling near real-time settlement on Copper's infrastructure.

How Are Exchanges Adapting to New Regulatory Pathways?

• Coinbase's Foreign Broker Model: Coinbase Financial Markets obtained no-action relief from the CFTC allowing it to transfer customer crypto assets to an affiliated foreign broker for use as margin under specified conditions, creating a regulated pathway for U.S. customers to access offshore perpetual futures.
• Kraken's Direct Launch: Kraken launched regulated perpetual futures for eligible U.S. customers in June 2026, demonstrating that established exchanges can offer these products domestically under the new regulatory framework.
• Kalshi's CFTC Approval: KalshiEX received CFTC approval for Bitcoin perpetual futures on May 29, 2026, establishing the first direct regulatory approval for a crypto perpetual contract in the United States.

The timing could be favorable for these platforms even if Congress fails to pass comprehensive crypto legislation. The CFTC has indicated that it intends to continue advancing digital-asset regulation using its existing authority rather than waiting indefinitely for the CLARITY Act, a bill that would clarify which regulator oversees different types of digital assets. For Hyperliquid and other decentralized platforms, that makes the recent perpetual-futures decisions particularly consequential.

"Institutions don't adopt technology for technology's sake. They adopt it when it makes markets work better. At Copper, we are focused on reducing friction, increasing efficiency, and automating how institutions operate across all financial markets. Establishing our regulated presence in the United States is an important step in bringing that infrastructure to the world's largest capital market," said Amar Kuchinad, CEO of Copper.

Amar Kuchinad, CEO, Copper

What Could This Mean for the Broader Crypto Market?

A year ago, U.S.-regulated crypto perpetuals remained largely theoretical. Kalshi has now received CFTC approval, Coinbase has obtained a regulatory pathway involving foreign perpetuals, and Kraken has launched the products for U.S. customers. Hyperliquid now wants to determine whether its onchain markets can be next. If regulators agree, the result could be bigger than U.S. access for one decentralized exchange. It would establish a pathway through which regulated American financial institutions could connect customers directly to blockchain-native derivatives infrastructure, bringing one of crypto's largest offshore markets into the U.S. regulatory perimeter.

This shift reflects a broader recognition that crypto derivatives are not going away and that regulatory clarity is preferable to continued prohibition. The CFTC's approach suggests that the agency is willing to work with existing regulatory frameworks rather than waiting for new legislation. For exchanges, custodians, and platforms, this creates both opportunity and obligation: the opportunity to serve U.S. customers legally, and the obligation to implement robust compliance, custody, and market surveillance systems.

The regulatory changes also highlight a fundamental tension in crypto markets. Decentralized platforms like Hyperliquid were designed to operate without traditional intermediaries, yet accessing U.S. customers requires regulated intermediaries to sit between the protocol and end users. This model may represent a pragmatic compromise: blockchain-native infrastructure providing the underlying trading engine while regulated firms handle the compliance and customer-facing functions that regulators require.