ICE CEO Rules Out HYPE Perps Despite $1.64B Polymarket Stake

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Chief Executive Jeff Sprecher said Thursday that the New York Stock Exchange parent is not pursuing Hyperliquid (HYPE) perpetual futures, arguing that the contracts do not create the forward pricing curve its core hedging clients need. Perpetual futures are leveraged derivatives that let traders hold positions without an expiration date, and Hyperliquid has become one of crypto's best-known venues for the product; its HYPE token is the protocol's altcoin. Sprecher called perpetuals “really a speculative” offering and said they do not fit ICE's distribution or client base, unlike conventional futures, whose staggered expiration dates produce a curve companies use to manage future costs and prices. The CEO explained that his client base is built around hedging and that perpetual contracts generate no such curve. He stressed that the distinction matters because ICE runs several of the world's biggest financial exchanges and clearinghouses; its customers, he said, mainly use futures to hedge risk rather than to speculate. He added that the company does not plan to build a portfolio of venture investments simply because technology companies are attracting capital. The remarks came in a televised interview the same week U.S. regulators were described by President Donald Trump as developing a compliance path that would allow Hyperliquid to operate domestically. Hyperliquid's perps market has also expanded beyond crypto: when traditional oil futures venues were closed, perpetual contracts became a way for investors to trade oil exposure. In May, regulators approved Kalshi's launch of the first federally regulated Bitcoin perps in the U.S. while Coinbase obtained a no-action letter for crypto perpetual futures that can be collateralized with Bitcoin, Ether or stablecoins.

Separately, ICE is weighing whether to participate in Polymarket's next funding round, which the prediction-market platform is targeting at a valuation above $20 billion — more than twice the figure attached to the company in October and an all-time high for its private valuation. Prediction markets have drawn more attention since the 2024 U.S. presidential election, as traders increasingly use yes/no contracts to speculate on outcomes ranging from elections and sporting events to geopolitical developments. ICE has built a $1.64 billion stake through two earlier investments; in March ICE put in another $600 million, following an earlier pledge to commit as much as $2 billion. Sprecher described the relationship as a “transfer of information and expertise” rather than ordinary venture investing, and said ICE would consider the new round if its participation could help Polymarket complete it. Investor interest has kept flowing as prediction markets broaden into sports, politics, geopolitics and other event-based contracts. At the time, ICE said the stake would not materially change its financial results or its plans for returning capital. Polymarket, meanwhile, has expanded its infrastructure through the acquisition of DeFi startup Brahma and earlier purchases of QCEX and Dome, bringing access to U.S. regulation, developer tools and onchain execution. Rival Kalshi has also raised substantial funding, and Robinhood's chief executive argued that event contracts should remain under Commodity Futures Trading Commission oversight rather than state-by-state gambling rules. Several U.S. states are trying to bring sports and election contracts under local gambling laws, while North Carolina's governor signed a law that puts event contracts under federal oversight and permits federally registered platforms to operate in the state from 2027. The above $20 billion valuation has not yet been confirmed in an official funding announcement or regulatory filing.

Read together, the two items show ICE applying selective logic to crypto-adjacent markets: comfortable holding a large prediction-market stake while declining to run speculative perpetual contracts on altcoins such as HYPE. As onchain infrastructure advances, from decentralized exchange protocols such as 0x to prediction-market rails, institutional participation is likely to remain product-specific. The pattern mirrors ICE's broader posture of backing new market infrastructure while avoiding products that conflict with its role as a venue for institutional hedging. For now, ICE's public signals point to a cautious but expanding involvement in crypto market structure. No official funding announcement or Form D filing has been published for Polymarket's new round, leaving the target valuation above $20 billion unconfirmed; the $600 million March investment, by contrast, was disclosed by ICE at the time.