Hyperliquid Strategies is seeking to add a regulated brokerage business to its HYPE treasury strategy. According to Decrypt’s report published November 7, 2026, a subsidiary of the Nasdaq-listed company has applied to become a futures commission merchant, or FCM.
The application is not an approval. Both the FCM registration and the permissioned Hyperliquid markets it would serve require regulatory sign-off, and the company has provided no timeline.
The proposed access model
An FCM is a CFTC-registered broker that holds customer funds and handles futures orders. If approved, Hyperliquid Strategies’ subsidiary would carry U.S. client accounts for permissioned markets built on Hyperliquid, creating a proposed regulated route for Americans to trade perpetual futures.
Perpetual futures are derivatives without an expiration date that allow leveraged positions. Hyperliquid remains unavailable to U.S. users under its existing access restrictions; the proposed arrangement would use a separate, permissioned market structure rather than remove those restrictions generally.
Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 framework allows outside firms to launch perpetual markets on its order book after staking HYPE. A permissioned version, HIP-3*, would allow a regulated deployer to operate markets limited to approved traders, with Hyperliquid serving as neutral infrastructure. That is the proposed architecture, not evidence that U.S. access has already been authorized.
Why a token treasury wants a brokerage business
Hyperliquid Strategies trades under the ticker PURR and is chaired by former Barclays CEO Bob Diamond. At the end of September 2026, it held approximately 38.5 million HYPE, valued at roughly $3.5 billion.
The brokerage application connects to that exposure in two ways. First, more U.S. trading routed through Hyperliquid would likely generate additional protocol fees; Hyperliquid uses fee revenue to buy back HYPE. Second, an FCM would give the company an operating business beyond holding tokens. Neither outcome is assured by the application alone.
“We deployed $802 million this quarter and filed an application to become a futures commission merchant,” CEO David Schamis said. “Those two moves are the same bet.”
The quarterly figures show how that strategy was funded and how reported earnings were generated:
- HYPE purchases: $785 million spent on 9.1 million tokens.
- Share repurchases: $17 million spent on 2.7 million company shares.
- Funding: $911 million raised through stock sales, which largely financed those purchases.
- Net income: $620.6 million, driven almost entirely by $803 million in unrealized gains as HYPE rose from about $65 to $91.
The distinction between unrealized token gains and an operating business matters: the reported profit primarily reflected changes in the value of HYPE holdings, while the proposed FCM would represent a separate business activity.
Other firms are pursuing the same market structure
Hyperliquid Strategies is not the only company seeking a regulated U.S. route into Hyperliquid-based markets.
Kraken parent Payward has said it plans to deploy HIP-3* markets through its CFTC-regulated Bitnomial exchange, with NinjaTrader Clearing acting as the FCM.
In the week before Decrypt’s report, NYSE owner Intercontinental Exchange agreed to work with Trade[XYZ] to bring Hyperliquid-based perpetual futures to the United States. Decrypt reported that HYPE rose 13% following that agreement. Trade[XYZ] already operates markets on Hyperliquid, including perpetual futures tied to the S&P 500.
These arrangements illustrate the proposed division of responsibilities: Hyperliquid supplies the underlying infrastructure, while regulated entities provide permissioned markets and customer-account services. For Hyperliquid Strategies, the unresolved question is whether regulators will approve both its brokerage subsidiary and the markets that subsidiary intends to serve.
Original source: Decrypt — “Why a Hyperliquid Treasury Firm Wants to Become a US Futures Broker”, published November 7, 2026, at 03:46:03 UTC+8.