trade.xyz and HPC Jointly Submit Letter to CFTC, Calling for a US Regulatory Path for Energy Perpetual Contracts and 24/7 Trading

Odaily News: trade.xyz stated on the X platform that it has jointly submitted a comment letter with @HyperliquidPC to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), calling for the establishment of a regulated U.S. market path for energy perpetual contracts and 24/7 trading. The company stated that during this year's crude oil market shock, the energy market remained open while the benchmark market was temporarily closed; on multiple weekends, trade.xyz became the primary venue for price discovery.

The comment letter states that on February 28, the Middle East conflict disrupted energy exports from the region and unsettled global supply chains. During the oil market closure, U.S. airlines, refiners, and fund managers holding crude oil exposure lacked a regulated venue to respond until futures markets reopened on Sunday evening. On March 9, Brent crude prices approached $120 per barrel at one point, and jet fuel prices doubled within weeks.

The comment letter states that during the first weekend following the conflict, market participants outside the U.S. were able to manage crude oil exposure through the crude oil perpetual contract on Hyperliquid; from Friday's close until the benchmark market reopened, approximately two-thirds of the price movement had already occurred on-chain.

The CFTC has previously allowed the first batch of digital asset-backed perpetual contracts to trade as futures on U.S. exchanges, and is soliciting comments on issues related to energy perpetual contracts, including contract design, reference prices, market integrity, clearing, customer protection, and continuous trading.

The comment letter states that trade.xyz is the first and largest third-party perpetual contract market deployment on Hyperliquid, and its WTI, Brent crude, and Henry Hub natural gas markets have accumulated a total trading volume exceeding $500 billion since their launch in October 2025. The comment letter further states that in its research sample, during approximately 75% of weekend market closures, the weekend price of the crude oil perpetual contract was closer to the benchmark market's Friday close than the benchmark market's Sunday reopen price; since the launch of the crude oil perpetual contract, CME WTI reopening quality has not shown statistically significant deterioration.

The comment letter recommends setting asset-class-specific leverage limits for U.S. market participants engaging in energy commodity perpetual contracts, disclosing funding rates and liquidation mechanisms in plain language, and implementing other market integrity safeguards, while also allowing compliant markets to use on-chain infrastructure for trade execution, margin management, clearing, settlement, and recordkeeping.