Perpetual futures are starting to break out of their origins and emerge as a broader asset class beyond crypto, according to a new report from TD Securities.
The bank said recent regulatory developments in the US and growing institutional demand are helping to transform perpetual futures, commonly known as “perps”, from a niche crypto instrument to a market structure that could eventually span commodities, stocks and private market investments.
“PERPs are no longer just a crypto product. They are becoming a broader market structure product,” TD Securities wrote.
Perpetual futures differ from traditional futures because they do not expire. Instead, they rely on funding-rate mechanisms that keep prices in line with the underlying markets. The contracts have become the dominant means of trading in crypto, accounting for about 80% of global trading in digital assets, according to TD.
Momentum accelerated last month when the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) allowed bitcoin perpetual futures for trading on the prediction market platform Kalshi. Around the same time, Coinbase ( COIN ) announced plans to launch US stock index perpetual futures and moved closer to connecting US customers with offshore perpetual futures markets.
The report claims that institutional demand is expanding beyond cryptocurrencies. Hyperliquid (HYPE), the largest decentralized perpetual futures platform, now offers contracts linked to commodities and private companies. The exchange has become a venue for trading pre-IPO contracts tied to firms such as Cerebras and SpaceX, allowing traders to speculate on valuations ahead of public listings.
Hyperliquid’s growth has also begun to test the traditional role of exchanges such as CME Group in price discovery.
TD pointed to trading activity during the US-Israel-Iran conflict earlier this year, when commodity markets were closed for the weekend, but Hyperliquid remained open. According to the report, the theoretical volume in oil-linked perpetual futures on the platform grew from about $25 million to more than $550 million in the third trading weekend. Hyperliquid also priced in about 80% of the trailing move in West Texas Intermediate crude before the CME’s market reopened.
“The significance was not just volume, but price discovery that occurred before traditional commodity markets reopened,” TD wrote.
The trend extends beyond raw materials. TD said Hyperliquid’s pre-IPO perpetual futures tied to companies such as Cerebras and SpaceX have become an early test of whether blockchain-based markets can help establish valuations before stocks start trading publicly.
This growth has drawn scrutiny from established exchanges. TD noted that ICE and CME have pushed regulators to investigate Hyperliquid’s oil-linked products while simultaneously exploring similar offerings themselves, highlighting a growing battle between traditional and crypto-native market infrastructure.
TD expects commodities to be the next big growth area for perpetual futures, with oil, gold and copper among the most likely candidates. As regulators move toward creating a formal U.S. framework for the products, the bank said the bigger question is whether perpetual futures can retain their appeal when brought under tighter oversight.
