ICE CEO calls Hyperliquid bigger than NASDAQ, says he's met its founders
Jeffrey Sprecher, CEO of ICE, praised Hyperliquid at a Bernstein conference, calling it “bigger than NASDAQ” in influence and noting ICE has met with its founders several times. He pointed to Hyperliquid’s strong perpetual futures volumes and dominant share of the decentralized perp-DEX market, especially its 24/7 trading that attracts activity such as weekend oil exposure when traditional markets are closed. Sprecher framed this as evidence that crypto-native venues are becoming serious competitors to incumbent exchanges, not fringe players. He also argued the regulatory gap is unsustainable: Hyperliquid’s perpetuals function like swaps under U.S. law, but the venue is offshore and unregulated. He said the industry may move toward either a new regulated perp category or broader application of existing U.S. and EU derivatives rules to offshore platforms.
