HYPE, the native token of on-chain perpetual futures platform Hyperliquid, surged past $83 following reports that Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, is in discussions about bringing Hyperliquid's products to the US market. The token's market capitalization reached between $17 billion and $21 billion during the rally, with weekly gains exceeding 35%.
The price momentum accelerated after President Donald Trump remarked on August 19-20 that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission was taking steps to onboard Hyperliquid in a compliant manner. HYPE gained approximately 19-20% in a single session following those comments, hitting intraday highs around $77.55 on August 21 before continuing its advance.
Technical and Regulatory Infrastructure
Payward acquired Bitnomial, a CFTC-licensed exchange, providing the derivatives licensing infrastructure necessary for regulatory compliance. A "Kraken HIP-3 test DEX" was enabled around August 19, initiating permission controls on the Hyperliquid testnet.
Hyperliquid currently operates as an offshore platform and explicitly restricts access to US users. Perpetual futures are contracts that allow traders to bet on price movements with leverage, but they never expire. In the United States, offering leveraged derivatives requires CFTC registration.
Hyperliquid's HIP-3 framework enables third-party markets to deploy on its infrastructure, providing the technical mechanism for a potential partnership with Payward. Permission controls being tested suggest some form of identity verification or access restriction.
Broader Market Context
On August 10, Payward launched xStocks, a tokenized equities product built on Hyperliquid's HyperCore infrastructure, including tokenized versions of assets like NVDAx and SPYx. These products are currently unavailable to US investors. Payward has also been forming partnerships with traditional finance players including Nasdaq.
On-chain perpetual futures currently handle billions in daily volume globally, with almost none originating from US-based participants. Competitors including dYdX and GMX face similar US access restrictions. If Hyperliquid gains US market access through a Payward partnership, it would represent the first time an on-chain perpetual futures platform operated within American regulatory guardrails.
