Jeff Sprecher, the CEO of the New York Stock Exchange’s parent company ICE, has openly praised the decentralized derivatives protocol Hyperliquid, calling the platform “bigger than Nasdaq” at a recent gathering.
Wall Street Giants Shift From Lobbying to Exploring Decentralized FinanceSpeaking at the Bernstein Annual Strategic Decision Conference, the head of the company that owns the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Sprecher revealed that he has held multiple meetings with the Hyperliquid team to discuss potential business collaborations, adding, “This Hyperliquid that we’re talking about, if you haven’t heard of it yet, it’s bigger than Nasdaq, okay? Eleven people. The people that have built that exchange are extremely smart. I salute these guys for doing it. I mean, these are some very, very smart people.”
Sprecher also directly addressed the apparent contradiction between the recent regulatory pushback and his current admiration for Hyperliquid, stating that his words were miscontrued and that reports “made it seem like we were frightened.” He went on to add:
“We are actually engaging with these people, understanding what they are doing. They are learning about our world, and we are learning about theirs. In that sense, it’s mutual admiration.”
The convergence of traditional equity markets and crypto-native derivatives is becoming increasingly prominent, with Sprecher specifically pointing to Hyperliquid’s pre-market trading for companies like SpaceX, which is highly anticipated to go public around June 11.
