Hyperliquid’s Success Draws Attention
OKX CEO Star Xu praised Hyperliquid’s rise in the on-chain perpetuals market, highlighting how the platform achieved outsized success with a relatively small team. The Hyperliquid token (HYPE) recently hit a new all-time high of $59.30 on September 18, climbing more than 30% in the past 30 days.
Xu pointed to Hyperliquid’s lean approach as proof that focused innovation can outpace scale, even in a competitive industry dominated by larger exchanges.
Regulatory Barriers Stall OKX’s Mainnet Launch
Despite acknowledging the opportunity in on-chain perpetuals, Xu revealed that OKX Web3 has held back from launching its own perpetual product on mainnet since 2023 due to regulatory uncertainty.
He cited the CFTC’s enforcement actions against platforms such as Deridex, Opyn, and ZeroEx as a major deterrent. These cases involved charges of operating without proper registration as swap execution facilities or futures commission merchants, and for offering leveraged digital asset transactions without compliance.
Xu stressed that regulatory clarity is essential before exchanges like OKX can safely expand into the on-chain derivatives market.
Enforcement Actions Cast a Shadow on DeFi
The CFTC crackdown underscored the risks of offering DeFi-based leveraged products without traditional safeguards. The cited violations included failing to meet customer identification requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act, fueling concerns that current frameworks remain mismatched with decentralized markets.
Xu argued that these enforcement trends have created a cautious environment, but also suggested that progress in regulation could eventually unlock new opportunities for exchanges to innovate safely.
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Arthur Hayes’ Bold HYPE Prediction
Meanwhile, Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX and CIO of Maelstrom, made one of his boldest forecasts yet for Hyperliquid’s token. Speaking at the WebX 2025 conference in Tokyo and in a recent podcast interview, Hayes predicted that HYPE could hit $5,000 by 2028.
That figure represents an 84x–86x gain from current levels, extending earlier remarks where Hayes suggested a 126-fold gain could be possible within three years. He pointed to Hyperliquid’s unique market position and growing adoption as catalysts for such a meteoric rise.
Industry Outlook
The juxtaposition of Xu’s regulatory caution and Hayes’ bullish outlook reflects the crossroads at which the DeFi perpetuals sector finds itself. Hyperliquid’s growth proves that on-chain perpetuals can succeed with agility and strong demand, but scaling these innovations into mainstream adoption will depend heavily on clearer regulatory guardrails.
For now, Hyperliquid’s momentum and HYPE’s price trajectory keep it firmly in the spotlight, as investors weigh both the promise of exponential gains and the risks of regulatory intervention.
