Hyperliquid Crypto Launches DC Policy Center to Push DeFi Derivatives Framework

Key Insights:

• Hyperliquid crypto established the Hyperliquid Policy Center in Washington on February 18, naming crypto lawyer Jake Chervinsky as inaugural CEO.
• The center received funding through a donation of 1 million HYPE tokens, valued at approximately $28 million at the time of publication.
• The organization’s top priority focused on developing legal pathways for perpetual derivatives in US markets.

Hyperliquid crypto marked a shift in decentralized finance advocacy with the launch of a dedicated Washington policy operation.

The Hyperliquid Policy Center opened on February 18, positioning perpetual derivatives regulation as its flagship issue and signaling that major DeFi protocols moved beyond enforcement defense toward sustained regulatory engagement.

Fortune reported the center hired Jake Chervinsky, a veteran crypto policy lawyer with prior roles at the Blockchain Association and Variant, as CEO.

The founding team included policy counsel Brad Bourque, formerly of Sullivan & Cromwell, and policy director Salah Ghazzal, previously with Variant. Additional hiring remained underway.

$28 Million Token Donation Funds Hyperliquid Crypto Advocacy

The policy center received its seed funding through a donation of 1 million HYPE tokens valued at roughly $28 million at the time of Fortune’s publication.

The funding structure reflected a pattern emerging across crypto policy institutions, in which token treasuries financed Washington operations aimed at influencing rulemaking before frameworks hardened.

Hyperliquid crypto’s choice to foreground perpetual derivatives aligned with a policy moment in which US regulators engaged with the category without providing a mainstream compliance pathway.

WilmerHale reported the CFTC staff sought public comment on 24/7 trading and perpetual contracts in derivatives markets, creating what policy advocates viewed as a window for technical input.

The move positioned Hyperliquid crypto alongside a growing stack of specialized advocacy entities.

The DeFi Education Fund, founded in 2021, operated as a nonpartisan nonprofit focused on DeFi policy. The Solana Policy Institute launched on March 31, 2025, bringing chain-specific advocacy to Washington and filing formal submissions with the SEC’s crypto task force.

Perpetual Derivatives Emerge as Regulatory Wedge

Fortune identified developing a legal framework for perpetual derivatives as one of the Hyperliquid Policy Center’s top priorities.

Perpetual contracts, which lack expiration dates, dominated crypto derivatives trading on offshore venues but remained absent from US-regulated finance at scale.

The CFTC demonstrated its regulatory interest in DeFi derivatives through enforcement actions.

A September 7, 2023, press release detailed actions against operators of DeFi derivatives protocols for failing to register as swap execution facilities, designated contract markets, or futures commission merchants.

The enforcement posture established that regulators treated DeFi derivatives as market infrastructure subject to registration theories.

Hyperliquid crypto’s Washington entry signaled that protocols are now aimed at co-authoring compliance specifications rather than litigating exclusively after enforcement.

The distinction between permissionless software and regulated venues often turned on definitions, intermediaries, and controllership tests that remained unsettled in statutes and regulations.

Policy Window Opens Between Stablecoin Law and Market Structure Bills

The timing reflected legislative sequencing, creating opportunities for advocacy.

The GENIUS Act established a federal framework for stablecoins. Treasury officials and others framed the legislation as supporting demand for US Treasuries through stablecoin reserve requirements, with Standard Chartered projecting that the stablecoin market would grow to $2 trillion by 2028.

Market structure legislation remained in progress. The CLARITY Act of 2025 passed the House in 2025, but stood pending in the Senate.

Congress.gov shows the bill was engrossed in the House and referred to the Senate in September 2025, leaving definitions and compliance design open to influence.

Hyperliquid crypto’s policy shop reflected a calculation that protocols could shape how rules addressed on-chain execution and noncustodial software if they engaged early with expertise and resources.

The center’s explicit focus on perpetual derivatives suggested an attempt to fill regulatory blank space before defaults hardened around offshore-only models.

Hyperliquid Crypto Lobbying Infrastructure Thickens in Washington

The Hyperliquid crypto initiative sat within the documented expansion of crypto’s policy footprint. Reuters reported crypto lobbying jumped 66% in 2025 to $40.6 million, citing OpenSecrets data.

The growth in spending supported the thesis that advocacy operations had transitioned from temporary election-cycle efforts to permanent institutions.

Staffing patterns across the ecosystem underscored its professionalization. The Solana Policy Institute named Miller Whitehouse-Levine as CEO and recruited Kristin Smith, former CEO of the Blockchain Association, as president.

The institute filed written submissions with the SEC, demonstrating formal engagement beyond public relations.

ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer listed the DeFi Education Fund as a 501(c)(4) organization with a Washington location and tax-exempt status starting March 2022.

The organizational structure positioned the fund as a standing DeFi policy advocate capable of sustained participation in rulemaking and legislative processes.

The ecosystem now operates a visible stack: broad trade associations, DeFi-specific groups like the DeFi Education Fund, chain institutes like Solana Policy Institute, and protocol-branded entities like Hyperliquid crypto’s new center.

The fragmentation increased specialized expertise but introduced risks of conflicting positions as market-structure debates continued.

DeFi Venues Position as Compliant Infrastructure

Hyperliquid crypto’s Washington strategy reflected a broader industry argument that DeFi trading could integrate into the US market structure through tailored compliance pathways rather than face blanket exclusion.

The center’s founding statement referenced helping create a legal pathway for broader DeFi adoption domestically.

The pitch required translating protocol mechanics into statutory and rule text that regulators and legislators could draft and implement.

Chervinsky’s background, including board ties to the DeFi Education Fund, provided what advocates viewed as Washington literacy for technical founders navigating agency jurisdiction and congressional definitions.

WilmerHale’s client alert on CFTC staff comment requests tied perpetual-style derivatives to ongoing derivatives-market discussions, supporting the argument that the product category could normalize within existing regulatory concepts.

If normalization succeeded, it would represent a material unlock for DeFi volumes in US markets, where perpetual contracts currently trade predominantly offshore.

The Hyperliquid crypto policy center signaled that major DeFi protocols expected the next US ruleset to emerge through technical engagement rather than enforcement litigation alone.

The move positioned perpetual derivatives as the clearest path to compliance while market-structure legislation remained under consideration in the Senate.