What happened
- Specific facts/numbers: ICE will be the exclusive operator of a new dedicated market and clearing structure for onshore U.S. perpetual futures, with KYC-verified customers accessing it through futures commission merchants; the planned contracts would cover crypto, equities, indices, commodities and foreign exchange, and ICE is also taking a minority stake in Trade[XYZ].
- Institutions involved: Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Trade[XYZ], the Hyperliquid blockchain, the CFTC, CME Group and Kalshi are the key institutions named in the report.
- Regulatory/technical context: The structure depends on perpetuals being treated as futures rather than swaps in the United States; the article says CME sued the CFTC in June over the agency’s approval of bitcoin perpetuals for Kalshi, and notes that swap classification would bring different margin, clearing and tax treatment.
- What to watch next: The main next milestone is the outcome of the CME-CFTC court challenge and whether ICE’s proposed market structure advances with regulatory support; beyond that, no specific launch date or additional milestone was identified.
Why it matters
This points to a potential mainstream U.S. market structure for perpetual futures, but its commercial viability hinges on unresolved U.S. regulatory classification.
HKMA Relevance
Indirect: U.S. treatment of perpetual futures could influence how global exchanges and market infrastructure providers, including those relevant to Hong Kong participants, approach regulated onshore crypto-linked derivatives.