Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, intends to offer onchain perpetual-futures markets to U.S. clients using Hyperliquid's infrastructure, according to an official announcement. The plan remains subject to regulatory approval, and the company has not provided a launch date.

The announcement covers markets running on Hyperliquid, not contracts that necessarily track HYPE, the network's native token. It states that the venue could host perpetuals linked to cryptocurrencies or other eligible assets, and the initial list of contracts has not been disclosed. Kraken already displays a HYPE perpetual contract for customers outside the United States, but that product is separate from the proposed U.S. deployment.

A perpetual future allows a trader to take a long or short position without a fixed expiration date, with periodic funding payments helping keep its price close to the underlying market. Because the contracts normally use leverage, relatively small price movements can produce larger gains or losses and may trigger liquidation. Perpetual futures are the most heavily traded class of crypto derivatives, which is part of why a new regulated route into these markets is significant for U.S. traders.

A public order book inside a regulated structure

The proposal divides responsibility among Hyperliquid and three regulated businesses owned by Payward. Orders and completed trades would be recorded onchain — written to a public blockchain rather than a private, company-operated ledger — while Payward's regulated units would retain responsibility for client accounts, market administration and clearing. Clearing is the post-trade layer that settles matched trades and manages the obligations between buyers and sellers. Bitnomial would operate and clear the contracts. Payward says it would become the first registered U.S. exchange and clearinghouse operator to deploy a market on Hyperliquid if the plan is approved.

Permissioned access, not open participation

American customers would not be able to connect any wallet to Hyperliquid and begin trading. They would first need to complete NinjaTrader Clearing's onboarding process, and an account would then have to be allowlisted by both NinjaTrader and Bitnomial before it could enter the market. That is a departure from Hyperliquid's usual access model, in which its existing markets are open to any wallet holder.

The restriction is possible because HIP-3 allows an operator to limit one perpetual market to approved wallets without closing Hyperliquid's existing open markets. The current technical documentation allows the operator to add or remove users, cancel open orders, submit reduce-only orders and move collateral within its venue. Those controls could be used to respond to compliance or risk events, but they would apply only to the market operated by Bitnomial; other Hyperliquid markets would remain outside its control.

HIP-3 is currently labelled testnet-only, and neither its mainnet terms nor Payward's regulatory approval has been finalized. Both are open items to track between this announcement and any launch.

The venue is new, but Payward already offers US perpetuals

Regulated perpetual futures are not new to Payward's American business. In June, Kraken introduced no-expiry futures for eligible U.S. customers through the same Bitnomial and NinjaTrader infrastructure. The new element is the venue: Hyperliquid would match and record orders, while Bitnomial and NinjaTrader would continue handling the regulated parts of the service.

Payward has not said whether customers would trade through Kraken Pro, NinjaTrader or another interface, so users should not assume they will access the market through Hyperliquid's existing front end.

Six product details remain undisclosed

Payward has described the operating structure but has not yet supplied several details traders would need before deciding whether to use the market:

• The assets represented by the first contracts
• The maximum leverage available to clients
• The accepted collateral and margin requirements
• The funding-rate calculation and payment schedule
• Trading, funding and clearing fees
• The remaining regulatory approvals and expected launch date

Until those terms are published, the proposal establishes a route to market rather than a finished trading product. For traders, liquidity, the reference-price methodology, margin requirements and funding costs will matter more than the fact that execution occurs onchain. What the onchain element does change is verifiability: orders and completed trades become part of a public record that outside parties can inspect.

Liquidity will show whether the model works

Regulatory approval would establish that a U.S. futures operator can use a public blockchain without giving up control over customer eligibility and clearing. It would not prove that the resulting market can attract enough traders to function efficiently.

The first contract specifications will show what Payward is offering. Trading volume, open interest spreads and funding costs will show whether placing the market on Hyperliquid improves the product or simply changes its technical location.

This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment or legal advice. The proposed markets remain subject to regulatory approval, and their contracts, fees, leverage and launch date have not been announced.