Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, announced on September 16 its intention to deploy onchain perpetual futures markets for US clients, beginning with Hyperliquid HIP-3 builder-deployed permissioned markets.
Bitnomial, Payward's CFTC-regulated exchange and clearinghouse, will create, own, and administer the markets and settle contracts. Payward's NinjaTrader Clearing will carry client accounts. Trading on the markets will be restricted to allowlisted accounts onboarded through Payward's registered broker.
"Payward intends to be the first, holding the keys and carrying the regulatory obligations," said Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Payward. "We already list our own US perpetuals and intend to deploy on Hyperliquid as well, putting clients first, not ourselves."
The announcement follows earlier reports that Payward and Hyperliquid Labs were in advanced talks regarding the partnership. Payward outlined the basic structure to the CFTC, with regulatory review remaining a central requirement for any planned launch.
Market Response
Following the announcement, HYPE token price increased more than 3% within hours. Over the preceding 24 hours, the token expanded its gains to more than 4%, with intraday trading ranging from $75.27 to $79.72.
Trading volume surged approximately 30% over the 24-hour period. Derivatives market data showed significant activity, with HYPE futures open interest increasing 2.50% to $2.92 billion in the four hours following the announcement. On individual exchanges, 24-hour HYPE futures open interest climbed 7% on Binance, more than 1% on OKX, and rose on Bybit.
