Native cryptocurrency exchange Hyperliquid has become impossible for traditional market operators to ignore, said Jeff Sprecher, founder and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange, pointing to weekend oil trading, stablecoin settlement, high leverage, and retail-based price discovery as signs of a broader shift in global markets.
Speaking on Bernstein’s show Excerpts Dated May 27, 2026, Sprecher said ICE, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, was monitoring Hyperliquid closely as the decentralized platform moves into markets historically dominated by traditional venues. He said he met with the Hyperliquid team several times to discuss what the platform is building, what ICE is doing, and where there might be overlapping interests between the two.
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“First of all, we know them well, and I’ve met with them a few times in person to talk about what they do, what we do, where there might be some common overlap that we can work on,” Sprecher said. “They got attention because they weren’trading oil on the weekend When our traditional oil markets are closed. And that’s what’s happening in this time of conflict in the Middle East, where there’s a lot of activity going on, a lot of decisions and things happening over the weekend.
He said this weekend’s activity made Hyperliquid suitable not only as a venue for cryptocurrencies but as a source of out-of-hours price discovery for markets that still operate on more limited traditional schedules. ICE’s response, according to Sprecher, would not be to keep oil markets open for the entire weekend after opposition from major oil companies. Instead, he said, ICE plans to extend trading very late on Friday and reopen very early on Monday, effectively narrowing the window in which traditional oil markets are closed.
Sprecher has framed the issue as a “wake-up call” for the industry. He said many institutional energy clients do not trade on foreign blockchain-based venues and may not be allowed to do so under internal controls. They are still monitoring the activity and prices formed there.
“They’re all watching it, watching price discovery,” Sprecher said. “Whether they admit it or not, it’s part of the zeitgeist when our markets open, very early on a Monday.”
The ICE boss also focused on Hyperliquid’s broader market structure. He described the platform as a “true DeFi exchange” that sits on blockchain paths, uses stablecoins, and has attracted market makers and early adopters who would otherwise have been active in traditional markets. He also highlighted the risks associated with its leverage model.
“It’s on the blockchain. It’s settled in stablecoins, it’s settled algorithmically. It has a very high margin. You can get leverage up to 100:1, which is part of the appeal.”
Sprecher said the platform’s derivatives list is linked to… SpaceX It could become a test case for whether private market price discovery in the DeFi space matters to the broader financial system. He said market participants and regulators will soon be able to judge whether the price tag on Hyperliquid is “irrelevant” or “highly relevant” once the company goes public, according to the excerpt.
The most surprising part of Sprecher’s remarks came near the end of the exchange, when he publicly praised Hyperliquid’s creators and compared the platform’s benchmark to the Nasdaq, though the excerpt did not specify the benchmark behind that comparison.
“I love it. I wish I was younger and doing this,” Sprecher said. “By the way, the number of billionaires created to do this. This Hyperliquid we’re talking about — if you haven’t heard about it, it’s bigger than the Nasdaq, okay? That’s 11 people.”
This tension is already evident in Washington. Before Sprecher’s Bernstein statements came to light, it was ICE and CME He put pressure on American officials To scrutinize Hyperliquid’s role in oil-related foreign trade, arguing that anonymous, 24/7 markets can influence price discovery in commodities and create risks around manipulation or evasion of sanctions.
Hyperliquid has pushed back on this framework, arguing that continuous onchain markets reduce rather than increase market risk. This dichotomy leaves Sprecher’s comments with a sharper edge: ICE may like what Hyperliquid has built, but the platform’s rise is also forcing legacy exchanges to decide whether to compete with crypto’s native market structure, lobby against it, or try to accommodate parts of it in regulated venues.
At press time, HYPE was trading at $61,526.
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