Hyperliquid Policy Center Files Amicus Brief Urging Dismissal of CME’s Suit Against CFTC

The Hyperliquid Policy Center (HPC), which has ties to the Hyperliquid Foundation, has filed an amicus brief urging the court to dismiss the CME’s lawsuit against the CFTC. HPC cited two defects in the CME’s lawsuit and alleged that the exchange is simply trying to block innovation in the futures market.

Hyperliquid Advocacy Group Files Brief Against CME

HPC announced in an X post that it had filed an amicus brief urging the court to dismiss CME’s lawsuit against the CFTC, which challenges the approval of the first perpetual futures contract for a U.S.-regulated exchange. CME sued the regulator in June after it approved perpetual futures on Kalshi.

The Hyperliquid group’s brief notably follows the CFTC’s filing last week, in which it also urged the court to dismiss the CME lawsuit. The regulator had argued that there was no plausible competitive injury to the CME, contrary to its claims.

Similarly, the HPC argues in its amicus brief that the CME has no injury that gives it legal standing, citing this as one of the suit’s defects. The advocacy group noted that the derivatives exchange relies on the doctrine of competitor standing to supply an injury, but that the doctrine applies only when government action intensifies competition in a fixed market and injury to the plaintiff follows as a matter of economic logic.

“The CFTC order it challenges does nothing of the kind,” the Hyperliquid advocacy group asserted. On the second defect, the HPC said that the “CME is an unsuitable challenger because its interests fall outside the zone of interests of the CEA provisions it invokes.”

CME Accused Of Attempting To Block Innovation

The HPC claimed that the CME’s lawsuit is an attempt to halt innovation in the U.S. futures markets. The group noted that the CFTC’s approval of the first-ever U.S. perpetual futures contract on a U.S.-regulated exchange confirmed that every U.S. derivatives exchange, including the CME, can list the same type of contract.

“At least for now, CME has decided not to. But instead of leaving other futures exchanges to make their own commercial decisions, CME has asked a court to take the decision out of their hands. We filed this brief because CME’s anticompetitive effort must fail,” the Hyperliquid advocacy group said.

CME argues that these perpetual contracts are swaps, not futures. As such, the exchange believes the regulator went about the approval the wrong way because it didn’t follow the formal rulemaking process.

Meanwhile, the HPC’s amicus brief comes as Hyperliquid, an offshore perpetual decentralized exchange, eyes entry into the U.S. As CoinGape reported, Hyperliquid and Kraken’s parent company Payward are in advanced talks to bring selected crypto perpetual futures to U.S. traders.

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