Ran Neuner Says Regulation Is Hyperliquid’s Biggest Threat, With DEXs Next

Hyperliquid’s biggest risk is regulation, not competition, according to Ran Neuner.

Cointelegraph reported on September 11 that the Crypto Banter founder said on the “Chain Reaction” podcast that regulators in various jurisdictions could broaden their oversight to decentralized exchanges after completing rules for centralized platforms.

“The biggest issue is that it is still unclear how regulators will deal with decentralized exchanges,” Neuner said. He added that once regulatory frameworks targeting centralized exchanges, including the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, or MiCA, are firmly in place, DEXs could become the next target.

Hyperliquid is a decentralized perpetual futures exchange built on its own Layer 1 blockchain. DefiLlama data show it posted about $223 billion in trading volume over the past 30 days, maintaining its position as the largest decentralized derivatives exchange.

On the competitive front, Neuner said Hyperliquid’s lead is unlikely to be easily shaken. He cited network effects and liquidity as the exchange’s core strengths, saying “a network is not something that can simply be copied.” Even if more rival platforms emerge, users could continue to gravitate toward exchanges with deeper liquidity.

The possibility of entering the regulated U.S. market is also drawing investor attention. President Donald Trump said in August that Brian Quintenz, a commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, was pursuing a plan to let Hyperliquid legally offer services in the U.S.

Following those remarks, Hyperliquid’s token HYPE jumped about 20% in a single day to top $70. It is now trading around $82, up more than 220% since the start of the year. Its market capitalization is about $18.2 billion, and its fully diluted valuation is about $78.4 billion.