Hyperliquid Strategies files with CFTC to become a futures commission merchant

A treasury firm wants to run the regulated plumbing itself

Nasdaq-listed Hyperliquid Strategies (PURR) disclosed on 5 November 2026 that it has filed with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to register as a futures commission merchant, according to its third-quarter results release.

A futures commission merchant holds customer accounts and handles trades for clients in regulated futures markets. If the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approves the application, Hyperliquid Strategies would carry US client accounts for Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 permissioned markets itself, rather than relying on an outside FCM.

Hyperliquid Strategies said in the release that “Hyperliquid recently announced its intention to add additional deployer functionalities under the name HIP-3”, and that “these optional additional features would allow deployers to build and launch permissioned markets on Hyperliquid’s onchain infrastructure. Independent operators would run their own market in a compliant manner, while the chain underneath would stay a neutral infrastructure layer.”

The third regulated US on-ramp in a fortnight

The filing lands in a crowded fortnight for regulated US access to Hyperliquid perps. In late October, Payward (Kraken’s parent company) became the first CFTC-regulated deployer on the HIP-3* variant, planning deployments through its Bitnomial subsidiary with NinjaTrader Clearing acting as FCM under an allowlist model. Days earlier, ICE, the parent of the New York Stock Exchange, agreed to partner with TradeXYZ to bring Hyperliquid-based perpetual futures to US traders, with ICE running exchange and clearing infrastructure and TradeXYZ designing the markets. For traders tracking the first real test of the CFTC’s onshore perp pathway, the filing is one more route for US flow to reach the same order books.

Where the Payward template routes US clients through a third-party FCM, Hyperliquid Strategies would cut out that middleman if its registration is approved, a vertically integrated move for a treasury firm better known for holding Hyperliquid’s HYPE token than for operating broker infrastructure.

The prize HIP-3 is chasing

The commercial case is the size of the permissioned segment. HIP-3 has been live on mainnet since 13 October 2025, and roughly 26.7% of the $64.7 billion traded across Hyperliquid over the last 30 days runs through HIP-3 markets. Launching a HIP-3 market requires more than 500,000 HYPE. The volume figure is not exchange-confirmed.

The firm’s quarter shows what that position is worth. Revenue for the three months to 30 September 2026 came in at $13.3 million, above analyst estimates that ranged from $10.6 million to $12 million depending on the data provider. Net income was $620.6 million, driven by $803 million in unrealised gains on HYPE holdings and offset by a $172.3 million income tax provision.

Approval is not assured. The company cautioned in the release that “there can be no assurance as to the timing or outcome of the application or regulatory approval of permissioned HIP-3 markets”. HYPE fell 7.28% on 5 November.