Kraken Parent Payward Wants to Put Regulated Perpetuals Directly on Hyperliquid
Payward, the parent company of Kraken, announced on September 16 plans to bring on-chain perpetual futures to eligible United States clients through Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 infrastructure, using CFTC-regulated Bitnomial to deploy, clear and settle the proposed contracts. If approved, Hyperliquid would become the first blockchain protocol used for the initiative, putting regulated derivatives markets directly on a public chain rather than on traditional exchange plumbing.
The planned markets remain subject to regulatory approval and are not yet available for U.S. trading. But the structure, as described by the company, marks one of the most concrete attempts yet by a major exchange group to marry decentralized finance infrastructure with American derivatives regulation.
How the structure would work
Under Payward’s proposal, Bitnomial Exchange would act as the HIP-3 deployer — creating, owning and administering the perpetual markets — while Bitnomial Clearinghouse handles clearing and settlement. Transactions would use Hyperliquid’s on-chain order book for matching and recording trades. NinjaTrader Clearing would carry client accounts on the customer side, and only traders successfully onboarded by NinjaTrader and included on the required NinjaTrader and Bitnomial allowlists would gain access.
The arrangement would not give American customers unrestricted access to every market currently available on Hyperliquid. Bitnomial would determine which regulated products it deploys and administers under its exchange rules.
HIP-3 was originally designed as permissionless infrastructure, letting builder-deployed markets inherit HyperCore’s order books and margin system while deployers control contract definitions, oracle prices, leverage limits and settlement procedures. Crucially, Hyperliquid recently introduced optional permissioning that lets market deployers restrict participation through on-chain allowlists. As crypto.news reported earlier this month, that feature was designed precisely for markets where regulatory or institutional requirements limit who can trade — and Payward plans to use that model for U.S. customers.
Bitnomial provides the regulated stack
Federal records confirm Bitnomial already holds the central registrations needed for Payward’s U.S. derivatives operation. The CFTC designated Bitnomial Exchange as a contract market in 2020, and the Commission’s current register continues to list the firm as a designated contract market. Bitnomial Clearinghouse is separately registered as a derivatives clearing organization, with CFTC records stating it can clear futures, options on futures and fully collateralized swaps. NinjaTrader Clearing’s regulatory disclosures identify it as a CFTC-registered futures commission merchant and National Futures Association member under NFA ID 0309379.
The proposal expands on Payward’s existing U.S. derivatives business rather than starting from scratch. In its second-quarter 2026 financial update, the company said Bitnomial infrastructure already supports regulated U.S. perpetual futures and spot margin products. Payward reported 6.6 million funded accounts at the end of June, up 42 percent year over year.
Why Hyperliquid, and why now
The scale of the opportunity explains the interest. Hyperliquid recorded nearly 237 billion USD in perpetual trading volume over the trailing thirty days, according to DefiLlama data — activity that has so far flowed largely outside the reach of U.S.-regulated venues. By deploying permissioned markets on the same chain, Payward and Bitnomial would let eligible American clients trade on Hyperliquid’s order book within a fully regulated wrapper, with regulated clearing and settlement attached.
The move follows a broader pattern of Wall Street-adjacent players building permissioned doors into public blockchains. Nasdaq bought into Kraken parent Payward at a 21 billion USD valuation earlier this month with tokenized-stock plans attached, and the CFTC has separately opened the door to institutional access of offshore perpetual liquidity. Regulated Hyperliquid markets would extend that trend from custody and tokenization into the most contested product in crypto: perpetual futures.
For the DeFi sector, approval would be a significant validation. Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 permissioning feature was built for exactly this scenario, and a green light from regulators would make it the first major proof that a public on-chain order book can host CFTC-regulated derivatives at institutional scale. For Hyperliquid’s competitors, it would raise the question of whether permissioned deployments become the default path for regulated on-chain finance.
Plenty stands between the announcement and live markets. The proposal requires regulatory review, and the permissioned allowlist model — with NinjaTrader onboarding gating access — will limit early volumes by design. But the direction is unmistakable: the largest on-chain perps venue and one of the largest U.S. exchange groups want the same order book, and they have filed the paperwork to share it. If regulators approve, the line between DeFi and regulated derivatives will get harder to find.
bitnomial as the deployer means every contract has a regulated clearinghouse attached. that hybrid is closer to what cftc folks have hinted they can live with than any dex proposal so far
agreed, every prior dex proposal died because nobody could point at a responsible counterparty. bitnomial owning admin means regulators finally have a phone number to call
the hybrid structure is exactly what cftc legal memos have hinted at. if this template clears, every major fcm copies it within 18 months
the ninjaTrader allowlist part is what everyone skips. same wall retail already hits at bitnomial. this ships as an institutional product first, trader product later, if ever
institutional first is fine, bitnomial onboarded retail futures clients for years, the allowlist is process not a wall
institutional first was always the path. retail gets access once the cftc stops hovering, same rollout pattern the btc futures products took
kraken routing regulated perps through bitnomial onto hyperliquid via HIP-3. if this clears the cftc the defi derivatives landscape shifts overnight
big if. bitnomial clears it but the chain has to satisfy regulators every single day. one weird liquidation cascade and the whole structure gets questioned
HIP-3 allowlists handle who can trade but nobody has explained what a liquidation cascade looks like onchain during a stress event. first bad week is the real audit
exactly this. bitnomial can clear all day but one onchain liquidation cascade during a flash crash is where the cftc press release writes itself
hip-3 has the hlp vault as a backstop but that is a small hole in a real cascade. first flash crash is the audit, agreed
hlp backstop is what, low nine figures against daily perp volume in the billions. one cascade and bitnomial pulls the deployer license before the cftc even reacts
liquidation onchain during stress is the audit, agreed. at least the hlp vault is transparent, cant say that for cex margin desks
overnight is generous, bitnomial rulemaking timelines alone run quarters. direction matters more than speed here
hyperliquid perp volume already rivals cexs some days, now an actual us exchange wants a piece. funny how never-defi becomes defi-please once fees show up
fees show up and suddenly hip-3 is an institutional strategy. same firms that called hyperliquid a toy now pay to deploy on it
lol exactly, remember when the big exchanges called dexs a toy. everyone ends up onchain eventually, some just arrive last
payward routing this through bitnomial feels like the compliance shell that lets everyone say yes. cftc keeps the register, hyperliquid keeps the order book, both sides claim victory
kraken routing us perps through bitnomial onto hyperliquid HIP-3. if this gets approved its massive validation for onchain derivatives
approved is doing heavy lifting there lol. still remember every regulated derivatives coming soon announcement since 2021
sure but bitnomial already runs CFTC approved markets. this is the least vaporware version of the regulated perps announcement we have gotten since 2021
ninjatrader carrying client accounts is the quiet headline. existing futures brokers suddenly need hyperliquid wallets
Using a CFTC regulated exchange to deploy and clear the markets is clever. Regulators keep their handle, users get Hyperliquid style margining.
ninjatrader clearing alongside bitnomial is the detail. payward wants existing futures brokers to onboard clients to these contracts, thats a distribution play not a tech demo
watching tradfi firms fight over who gets to build on a perp dex was not on my 2026 bingo card