Payward, the parent company of Kraken, announced plans to deploy onchain perpetual futures for United States clients built on Hyperliquid's HIP-3 framework. The new markets would be deployed and cleared through Bitnomial, a CFTC-regulated exchange that Payward acquired in April 2024 for $550 million. NinjaTrader Clearing, a registered futures broker, would handle client account onboarding.
Hyperliquid has processed over $200 billion in trading volume in the past 30 days, making it the largest onchain derivatives venue globally. However, the platform remains officially closed to US traders. Several platforms already operate builder-deployed markets on Hyperliquid, with one holding 98% of that open interest, but none are registered US exchanges or clearinghouses.
Payward stated that its structure using Bitnomial's regulated infrastructure fills this regulatory gap. The company already offers its own crypto perpetual futures to US clients through the same clearing arrangement.
Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Payward, said: "Payward intends to be the first, holding the keys and carrying the regulatory obligations."
The plan requires regulatory approval, and no launch date has been announced. The proposal follows recent scrutiny of Hyperliquid's compliance record following wallet activity linked to North Korea. Whether regulators approve Bitnomial's structure will likely determine how quickly Hyperliquid becomes accessible to US traders.
