The Hyperliquid Policy Center and trade[XYZ] have formally asked the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to create a regulated pathway for energy perpetual contracts, filing a joint comment letter with the derivatives watchdog on August 26. The submission urges the CFTC to let crude oil and natural gas perpetuals trade in U.S. markets around the clock, building on the digital-asset perpetuals the agency began permitting earlier this year, according to the Hyperliquid Policy Center.
Extending Perpetuals Beyond Digital Assets
The comment letter argues energy perpetuals would give hedgers continuous price exposure without the cost and timing risk of rolling expiring futures. trade[XYZ], which describes itself as the first and largest third-party deployer of perpetual markets on Hyperliquid, reports that its WTI, Brent and Henry Hub natural gas markets have handled more than $500 billion in cumulative volume since launching in October 2025. The group wants the CFTC to adopt a technology-neutral framework and confirm that exchanges and clearinghouses may operate around the clock where they satisfy the agency’s Core Principles.
The Weekend-Crisis Case
HPC ties its request to a concrete market-structure gap. When conventional energy markets close for the weekend, hedgers such as airlines and refiners have no regulated venue to adjust crude exposure. The letter contends oil-linked perpetuals already changed hands onchain while U.S. futures were shut, and that continuous clearing and margining remove the reason a venue must close at all. The filing also asks the CFTC to recognize stablecoins and tokenized traditional collateral as eligible margin for cleared derivatives, on the argument that a market trading on weekends needs collateral that can move on weekends.
An Open Question for the Regulator
The filing is a proposal rather than a rule change, and the CFTC has not said whether it will expand perpetuals beyond digital assets. The agency’s May order was limited to digital-asset underliers, with an accompanying policy statement flagging energy and other asset classes for additional review. HPC says no new legislation is required because the existing framework can already accommodate energy perpetuals, but that reading has yet to be tested. The request follows the center’s earlier push for the CFTC to modernize onchain software rules and arrives as venues such as Coinbase roll out their own oil perpetual futures.
