Hyperliquid Labs and Kraken parent company Payward are in advanced discussions to offer selected cryptocurrency perpetual futures to eligible U.S. traders. Under the proposed arrangement, trading would occur through Bitnomial, a Payward subsidiary that operates as a regulated digital asset derivatives exchange.
The structure would allow U.S. customers to access a limited selection of futures contracts linked to tokens built on Hyperliquid technology, rather than direct access to Hyperliquid's decentralized platform. Hyperliquid currently restricts service to U.S. residents and operates as a major perpetual futures venue, processing more than $4 billion in daily volume.
Regulatory Path Forward
Any agreement remains contingent on approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Payward has already submitted a proposal to the CFTC outlining the basic structure of the potential partnership.
U.S. regulators have raised compliance concerns about decentralized and permissionless trading platforms, including market manipulation risks, anti-money laundering controls, and sanctions enforcement. The CFTC declined to comment specifically on the Hyperliquid discussions but stated that the U.S. must keep pace with evolving changes in trading and financial markets.
Limited Product Offering
Under the proposed arrangement, registered Bitnomial users would have access to a restricted group of Hyperliquid-linked futures contracts. This limited offering would not provide unrestricted access to Hyperliquid's full decentralized platform.
Perpetual futures are derivatives that track an underlying asset without a fixed expiration date. These instruments have gained widespread adoption across offshore and decentralized crypto trading platforms but face stricter federal oversight in the United States, where derivatives trading requires applicable registration and compliance with market rules.
