What exactly happened?
On Wednesday, October 29, 2025, two things came together at once: record activity on the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid and an institutional announcement that sent its HYPE token sharply higher.
According to The Defiant, daily trading volume in perpetual contracts on Hyperliquid reached $17.44 billion, roughly double the figure from the previous period. The protocol's fees climbed to a 30-day high. Meanwhile, liquidations grew to approximately $252 million and open interest fell.
A perpetual contract (perpetual, or "perp" for short) is a derivative with no expiration date that allows traders to speculate on the price of an asset with leverage. A liquidation occurs when a trader runs out of collateral and their position is forcibly closed.
Why is the NYSE owner getting involved?
On the same day, October 29, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which owns the New York Stock Exchange, announced a deal with crypto startup Trade[XYZ]. According to CryptoSlate, ICE is acquiring a stake in Trade[XYZ], and together they plan to launch a dedicated perpetual futures market in the US operating around the clock (24/7), which would cover crypto, stocks, commodities, and currencies.
Trade[XYZ] is a startup building products specifically on Hyperliquid's infrastructure. Both CryptoSlate and Poland's CrypS.pl emphasize that the entire project is subject to regulatory approval. In other words, this is still a plan, not a launched service.
How did the HYPE token react?
According to CrypS.pl, the HYPE token jumped during the day from approximately $79.3 to $97, roughly 22%, approaching its all-time high (ATH). Cointelegraph also reports that HYPE came within reach of its record after the news about the ICE and Trade[XYZ] plans.
| Metric (Oct 29, 2025) | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Perpetuals volume | $17.44 billion | The Defiant |
| Liquidations | ~$252 million | The Defiant |
| Open interest | decline | The Defiant |
| HYPE move | ~+22% (from ~$79.3 to $97) | CrypS.pl |
What is connected here and what is not?
This is where caution is needed. We have two events on the same day: record volume and fees on Hyperliquid on one side, and the ICE announcement on the other. The jump in the HYPE price is explicitly linked by the shared sources (CrypS.pl, Cointelegraph) to the news about ICE and Trade[XYZ].
On the other hand, none of the verified sources directly claims a causal link between the ICE announcement and the doubling of perpetuals volume. The timing on the same day is striking, but from the available data it is impossible to clearly separate how much of the record volume was driven by this news specifically and how much by ordinary market volatility (which is also suggested by the high level of liquidations).
What to watch for in similar cases
- "Subject to regulatory approval" means a plan, not reality. Until a US regulator approves the project, it is an intention. Neither the timeline nor the details of the approval are known from verified sources.
- Volume and fees for a single day are not a trend. A 30-day high points to a peak, not a sustained level. It is worth watching whether volumes stay elevated in the following days.
- High liquidations during a price rise suggest the move was volatile and that some leveraged traders lost money on it.
charliedesk records these figures as a "receipt from the past": what demonstrably happened on October 29. How the regulatory approval of ICE's plan will turn out, and whether Hyperliquid's increased activity will hold, remains open, and we will return to it once the data is in.