Hyperliquid, which operates in the DeFi field, launched a new policy center funded with 1 million HYPE tokens in Washington, the capital of the USA, on February 18. With this funding worth approximately $28 million, the Center aims to provide permanent and institutional representation in the field of regulation of digital assets. The head of the structure is lawyer Jake Chervinsky, who has been creating the strategies of the crypto industry on Capitol Hill for many years.
Regulatory Uncertainty in Perpetual Futures
Hyperliquid Policy Center is working to clarify the legal status of perpetual derivative products, especially those commonly used in DeFi protocols, in the USA. The open position size of the protocol, which has managed a perpetual futures transaction volume of 256 billion dollars in the last thirty days, is over 5 billion dollars. The leveraged nature of derivative products and their lack of a closing date mean that they cannot be fully defined in current legislation. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission had imposed sanctions on platforms such as bZeroX and Ooki DAO due to illegal digital asset transactions. The fact that contracts are excluded from regulation in the USA increases the search for legal clarity in the sector.
Crypto Legislation Studies and Latest Developments in the USA
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that they expect Congress to enact a comprehensive crypto market structure law by spring 2026. Although the CLARITY Act, passed by the House of Representatives in 2025, stipulates federal regulations for digital commodity exchanges and brokers, it excludes derivative products. Therefore, the future of leveraged derivative transactions is still a matter of debate in Congress. The GENIUS Act, which came into force in the same period, regulates fixedcoins. On the other hand, Standard Chartered predicts that fixedcoin supply will increase significantly in the coming years.
Lobby Spending Reached Record Level
In 2025, the digital asset industry’s lobbying expenditures in the United States increased by 66 percent to $40.6 million. This figure was the highest after traditional financial institutions spent $86.8 million. The $28 million Hyperliquid has allocated to its policy center is more than most crypto advocacy groups spend annually. The expenditures of well-established institutions such as Digital Chamber and Blockchain Association fell behind Hyperliquid.
Not just Hyperliquid; DeFi Education Fund has been operating since 2021. In November 2025, the Ethereum Protocol Advocacy Alliance was created by the Ethereum ecosystem protocols. Solana Policy Institute is also active on federal blockchain regulations. These structures are institutionalized in 501(c)(4) status with full-time employees and advisory programs.
Policy Strategies and Possible Scenarios
DeFi platforms now compete not only on market liquidity and user experience, but also on the regulatory and policy layer. After the draft laws being prepared in the USA explicitly exclude derivative transactions, it is considered that the protocols in the country may face pressure to implement recording standards such as KYC, surveillance and transparency. If legal clarity is not achieved, regulators are likely to target protocol operators and governance participants.
Three basic scenarios stand out for the coming period. In the first, regulations advance rapidly and US-based interfaces harmonize, while the global reach of the protocols continues. In the second scenario, regulatory pressure increases, US users’ migration abroad accelerates, and liquidity in the market fragments. In the third scenario, there is an obstruction in the congress, derivative transactions remain in the legal gray area and foreign platforms gain weight.
It seems that the “escape from regulation” approach that lasted for years in crypto has now given way to a new era in which corporate lobbying efforts and relations with lawmakers come to the fore. The emergence of Hyperliquid’s policy center reflects the industry’s quest to adapt to this new era.
