Hyperliquid's HYPE token edged higher on Tuesday after Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, said it intends to become the first firm regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to deploy perpetual futures markets on the decentralized exchange for US clients.

The plan would give US traders a regulated route into onchain perpetuals, a product that has been widely available outside the country for years but largely closed to American users. Hyperliquid has operated without direct access to the US market despite becoming one of the largest decentralized derivatives platforms, limiting its ability to serve American traders.

How the Payward Hyperliquid structure would work

Under the proposed arrangement, Payward would use Hyperliquid as the underlying blockchain infrastructure, with markets running on the protocol's public chain, where an onchain order book matches and records trades. Payward's CFTC-regulated exchange and clearinghouse Bitnomial would act as the deployer, creating, owning and administering the market while clearing and settling the contracts.

NinjaTrader Clearing, Payward's CFTC-registered futures commission merchant, would carry the client accounts. The entities involved are Bitnomial Exchange, LLC, a CFTC-regulated designated contract market, Bitnomial Clearinghouse, LLC, a CFTC-registered derivatives clearing organization, and NinjaTrader Clearing, LLC, a CFTC-registered futures commission merchant and NFA member.

"A US client would open a futures account with Payward's registered broker and trade new perpetual futures contracts on Hyperliquid, cleared through the same clearinghouse that already supports the crypto perpetual contracts Payward offers US clients today," said Jon Pham, Head of US Derivatives at Payward.

Payward acquired Bitnomial in May 2026 in a transaction valued at up to $550 million, expanding its regulated derivatives infrastructure, according to Bitcoin.com News. Payward said it intends to be the first regulated firm to deploy such a market on Hyperliquid, holding the keys and carrying the regulatory obligations.

HIP-3 upgrade adds permissioned markets

The technical centerpiece is HIP-3\, an upcoming enhancement to Hyperliquid's existing HIP-3 framework, which lets independent builders launch perpetual futures markets tied to cryptocurrencies, equities, commodities and other assets. The new framework introduces optional permissioned markets through onchain allowlists controlled by individual deployers or their designated operators.

Unlike the existing permissionless HIP-3 markets, these deployments can restrict access to approved participants while still using Hyperliquid's underlying blockchain and order book infrastructure. Only accounts onboarded by NinjaTrader and on both NinjaTrader and Bitnomial's allowlists would be able to trade.

Hyperliquid said the feature is optional and that existing markets "remain unchanged." The initial implementation is available on testnet, with specifications subject to changes before a future network upgrade.

"Hyperliquid is a neutral infrastructure layer with the goal of supporting large parts of the financial system," Hyperliquid said in its announcement. The framework is designed so independent operators can deploy regulated products while retaining responsibility for their own markets, rather than requiring Hyperliquid to manage compliance across the entire network.

HYPE price reaction

HYPE's price rose over 0.6% over the past 24 hours, according to Yahoo Finance. The announcement briefly pushed the token above $80 before it retreated to approximately $79.65, Crypto Briefing reported, while Grafa put HYPE up 3.3% at $78.51 following the update.

The rebound followed a broader weekend crypto selloff that sent HYPE near $74 on Saturday, according to Crypto Briefing. Bitcoin.com News reported that HYPE jumped around 2.2% after the DEX platform's social media post, but at a recent price just under $79 per coin it remains down about 20% from a peak of $97.96 set in September.

HYPE has been up over 200% so far this year, according to Yahoo Finance. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around HYPE remained in the 'bearish' zone, while chatter stayed at 'low' levels over the past day, the outlet reported.

Regulatory backdrop and criticism

The plan comes a week after CME Group CEO Terry Duffy criticized Hyperliquid for its lack of identity checks. "So we have no KYC, so we don't even know who's on the platform," Duffy said, according to Yahoo Finance.

Under Payward's proposed setup, the firm running the markets would decide who gets in, putting a regulated intermediary in charge of access. Earlier this year, CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said onchain technology like Hyperliquid's would be able to transform our markets, and that the goal was to "create a path to bring these onchain markets into the United States."

Perpetual futures have traded outside the United States since 2016, with more than $85 trillion changing hands worldwide in 2025 alone, according to CoinGecko's 2026 "State of Crypto Perpetuals Report" cited by Payward. Hyperliquid, live since 2023, was ranked by CoinGecko as the most active onchain perpetuals venue of 2025 and handled more than $200 billion of volume in the past 30 days, per DefiLlama.

What comes next for the US perpetual futures plan

The proposal remains subject to regulatory approval, and Hyperliquid must first introduce the necessary permissioning functionality, which is currently on testnet. Subject to that approval, the onchain perpetual futures would be listed under the rules of Bitnomial Exchange, LLC.

The plan builds on a September 16 agreement between Payward and Hyperliquid to explore bringing regulated perpetual futures to US customers. The latest development outlines how the companies intend to implement that arrangement through HIP-3\, with Bitnomial acting as the regulated market operator.

Hyperliquid is the first protocol Payward plans to deploy on for US clients, and the company said partners already run their own products on Payward Services, with more products to follow through the same open rails. No launch date, contract lineup, or final trading specifications have been announced, according to Bitcoin.com News.

Conclusion

Payward's plan would make it the first CFTC-regulated deployer on Hyperliquid's HIP-3\ markets, using Bitnomial to run and clear the contracts and NinjaTrader Clearing to carry client accounts. The structure is designed to give US traders a permissioned, regulated route into onchain perpetuals without opening unrestricted access to Hyperliquid's existing markets.

The next concrete steps are regulatory approval and the completion of the HIP-3\ upgrade, which is live on testnet with specifications still subject to change. No launch date or contract lineup has been announced.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did Payward announce about Hyperliquid US perpetual futures?

Payward, Kraken's parent company, said it intends to become the first CFTC-regulated deployer of perpetual futures markets on Hyperliquid for eligible US clients, starting with the protocol's HIP-3\ permissioned markets. The plan was first outlined in a September 16, 2026 announcement and remains subject to regulatory approval.

How would Bitnomial and NinjaTrader be involved in the Hyperliquid markets?

Bitnomial, Payward's CFTC-regulated exchange and clearinghouse, would act as the HIP-3\ deployer, creating, owning and administering the market and clearing and settling contracts. NinjaTrader Clearing, Payward's CFTC-registered futures commission merchant, would carry the client accounts, with trading limited to approved accounts on both entities' allowlists.

What is the HIP-3\ upgrade on Hyperliquid?

HIP-3\ is an upcoming enhancement to Hyperliquid's HIP-3 framework that introduces optional permissioned markets through onchain allowlists controlled by individual deployers. Hyperliquid said the feature is strictly additive and existing markets remain unchanged. The initial implementation is available on testnet, with specifications subject to change before a future network upgrade.

How did the HYPE price react to the Payward news?

HYPE rose over 0.6% over the past 24 hours, according to Yahoo Finance, and briefly traded above $80 before retreating to about $79.65, Crypto Briefing reported. The token had fallen near $74 during a weekend selloff and remains down about 20% from a September peak of $97.96, though it is up over 200% this year.

Why did CME's Terry Duffy criticize Hyperliquid?

CME Group CEO Terry Duffy raised concerns about Hyperliquid's lack of identity checks, saying, "So we have no KYC, so we don't even know who's on the platform," according to Yahoo Finance. Under Payward's proposed setup, the regulated firm running the markets would decide who gets in, addressing that criticism through permissioned access.