Kraken parent company Payward is moving ahead with plans to become the first CFTC-regulated operator of perpetual futures markets on Hyperliquid, pairing the decentralized exchange's blockchain infrastructure with federally supervised trading, clearing, and brokerage services. Perpetual futures — derivative contracts without expiration dates — have become the most heavily traded instrument in cryptocurrency derivatives markets, a product that has historically been concentrated on venues outside U.S. regulatory oversight.

The October 26 announcement introduces a permissioned version of Hyperliquid's HIP-3 framework, allowing regulated operators to limit market access to approved customers. Payward intends to deploy the contracts through its Bitnomial derivatives businesses, while NinjaTrader Clearing will manage customer accounts. The arrangement remains subject to regulatory approval, and no launch date has been announced.

Payward detailed the plan in an official press release, and Hyperliquid highlighted the initiative in a post on X. Hyperliquid's HYPE token briefly climbed above $80 following the announcement, extending gains from the mid-$70 range.

Bitnomial to Operate Regulated Markets on Hyperliquid

Under Payward's original September 16 proposal, Bitnomial Exchange would serve as the proposed market operator, responsible creating and administering perpetual futures contracts within its existing CFTC-regulated framework. Bitnomial Clearinghouse would handle clearing and settlement, while NinjaTrader Clearing, a registered futures commission merchant tied to the widely used NinjaTrader retail futures platform, would hold customer accounts and oversee brokerage access.

Eligible U.S. customers would need to open a futures account through NinjaTrader and appear on both companies' approved trading lists. They would then gain access to newly created contracts executed through Hyperliquid's onchain order book.

Payward acquired Bitnomial earlier this year in a transaction valued at up to $550 million, securing an integrated derivatives operation spanning exchange, clearinghouse, and brokerage capabilities. Kraken already offers CFTC-regulated cryptocurrency perpetuals to eligible American traders through Bitnomial and NinjaTrader, and the proposed Hyperliquid integration would extend that regulated structure to markets running on public blockchain infrastructure rather than replace the existing products.

Hyperliquid's HIP-3* Introduces Permissioned Trading

The technical foundation is HIP-3*, an optional extension of Hyperliquid's existing builder-deployed perpetual futures system. Under the new protocol specifications, market operators can maintain onchain allowlists determining which addresses are permitted to trade. Deployers can also revoke access, restrict accounts to closing existing positions, and manage selected operations through delegated permissions.

The permissioning layer enables regulated financial institutions to apply customer eligibility requirements while using Hyperliquid's existing order-book and transaction-processing infrastructure, which runs on the exchange's own layer-1 blockchain. That capability addresses a central tension for regulated firms entering onchain markets: U.S. derivatives rules require firms to verify who their customers are, while permissionless blockchain venues by default accept trading activity from any wallet address. Existing permissionless HIP-3 markets will remain unchanged. Operators can choose whether to deploy restricted markets, with responsibility for contract specifications, risk controls, and regulatory compliance remaining with the deploying institution.

HIP-3* functionality is currently available on testnet, and its specifications remain subject to further changes before mainnet activation.

CFTC Approval Remains Key to U.S. Expansion

Payward's initiative follows its broader push into American derivatives markets, including plans for single-stock perpetual futures linked to major U.S. equities. The regulatory environment has also evolved: in June, the CFTC introduced a faster route for registered exchanges to convert qualifying cryptocurrency futures into contracts without expiration dates, although that relief does not automatically authorize Payward's proposed onchain deployment.

Hyperliquid's growing role in derivatives trading has drawn interest from financial institutions seeking blockchain-based market infrastructure. The proposed arrangement would separate responsibilities between the public trading protocol and the regulated companies operating specific markets.

HYPE reached an intraday high of approximately $80.49 on October 26, up from a low near $75, before closing around $78.35. The price movement coincided with the announcement, although the session's gains cannot be attributed exclusively to the Payward development.

Neither Payward nor Hyperliquid has disclosed the initial contract lineup, customer eligibility thresholds, or a timetable for production trading. The next steps depend on CFTC approval and the deployment of HIP-3* permissioning on Hyperliquid's mainnet. Until those conditions are met, the proposed U.S. markets will remain unavailable to customers.

Source: Crypto Adventure