The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is advocating for "equal playing conditions" in the on-chain perpetual futures market. This was stated by the organization's CEO, Jeffrey Sprecher, as reported by The Block.
During the Bernstein conference, Sprecher confirmed that ICE representatives have met several times with the team from the decentralized platform Hyperliquid. He noted that the company is exploring the business model of the protocol in light of the growing demand for around-the-clock trading of commodity derivatives.
"We are not scared. We are communicating with these people and learning from them. We help them understand our world, and they help us understand theirs," Sprecher remarked.
Previously, media outlets reported that ICE and CME Group had approached the CFTC and U.S. lawmakers to draw attention to Hyperliquid's activities. Traditional exchanges expressed concerns about the impact of anonymous trading on global oil benchmarks and the risks of manipulation.
Sprecher clarified that the requests to regulators were more about seeking clarification. ICE wants to understand why it is limited in offering similar products and how to bridge the legal gap between centralized and DeFi platforms.
According to the ICE CEO, regulators will need to decide whether to categorize perpetual contracts separately or equate them to swaps under existing regulations.
In May, OKX and ICE announced the launch of perpetual oil futures for Brent and WTI. This listing became possible after ICE invested in OKX and secured a seat on the cryptocurrency exchange's board.
As another case to watch, Sprecher mentioned the TradeXYZ platform based on Hyperliquid. The platform launched pre-IPO futures for SpaceX shares. According to the ICE CEO, it will be interesting to compare the market price of the asset on the on-chain market with the results of the actual stock placement.
It is worth noting that in March, corporations accelerated the transition of stock markets to blockchain technology, with NYSE and Nasdaq supporting this trend.