Think Tank Advocates for Financialization of Computing Power

The Hyperliquid Policy Center has submitted a formal comment letter to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The central argument is that "computing power" should be recognized as a commodity, paving the way for a regulated derivatives market, including perpetual contracts, to be established in the United States.

Computing Power as a Definable Commodity

The HPC contends that computing power meets the legal definition of a "commodity" under the Commodity Exchange Act. It presents computing power as a tradable, measurable resource capable of supporting a robust derivatives market, encompassing both dated futures and perpetual contracts.

Six-Point Plan for Market Development

To ensure a fair and orderly market launch, the HPC outlined a six-point proposal for the CFTC:

  • Expand Product Offerings: Promote derivatives based on "GPU compute hours" and "AI inference tokens," representing monetized forms of hardware leasing and AI model output, respectively.
  • Clarify Index Standards: The CFTC should establish principles for reliable computing power reference indices. Exchanges should be allowed to list contracts settled to any index meeting these standards, regardless of spot market maturity.
  • Foster Index Competition: Permit contracts to settle against competing reference indices instead of a single mandated benchmark to enhance pricing efficiency.
  • Enhance Early-Stage Oversight: Address manipulation and concentration concerns in initial phases through heightened market surveillance, information sharing, and appropriate position limits.
  • Streamline Contract Listing: Allow perpetual computing contracts to follow the CFTC's existing process for new contract approvals under Regulation 40.3 and relevant policy statements.
  • Develop Parallel Markets: Facilitate the concurrent growth of both dated computing futures and perpetual computing contract markets.

Implications for the Future Market

If adopted, this framework would unlock the financialization of computing power. Entities like miners, AI firms, and cloud providers could hedge their exposure, while investors would gain access to a novel asset class tied to digital infrastructure. This could fundamentally alter how computing resources are allocated and priced.