Hyperliquid Policy Center Calls for SEC and CFTC to Unify Regulatory Classification of Perpetual Contracts

According to the comment letter released by the Hyperliquid Policy Center (HPC), it calls on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to establish a harmonized regulatory framework for perpetual contracts. The HPC asserts that while perpetual contracts lack fixed expiration dates, they exhibit traditional futures characteristics such as standardization, fungibility, the ability to be offset, and price convergence driven by funding rates; accordingly, cash-settled stock perpetual contracts possessing these traits should be allowed to be listed as "security futures." The HPC recommends that both agencies standardize classification criteria across different underlying perpetual contracts, retain exchanges' flexibility in product listing decisions, and modernize the security futures framework. It noted that clear regulatory guidance would help lower market entry barriers, foster exchange competition, and bring perpetual contract trading back to the U.S. market.