Payward, the parent company of Kraken, wants to do something no US-registered exchange or clearinghouse has done yet. It plans to become a deployer on Hyperliquid’s HIP-3, the framework that lets outside builders spin up their own perpetual futures markets.
How the setup is supposed to work
Payward announced the plan on September 16, 2026. The firm said it intends to launch onchain perpetual futures markets built specifically for US clients.
The first step is deploying Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 permissioned perpetual markets. Bitnomial, which Payward acquired in May 2026, will act as the HIP-3 deployer. Bitnomial is set to handle market administration and clearing.
NinjaTrader Clearing will serve as the futures commission merchant. A futures commission merchant is the regulated middleman that holds client accounts and money for futures trading.
Access will be gated. Only accounts allowlisted through these regulated entities will be allowed to trade on the infrastructure.
The trades themselves are designed to execute on Hyperliquid’s public blockchain order book. The matching happens onchain, while the compliance checks happen at the door.
The rollout depends on regulatory approvals. Payward has not disclosed a launch date or which specific markets will be offered.
Co-CEO Arjun Sethi framed the move around giving US clients access to onchain perpetuals while meeting the firm’s regulatory obligations.
What HIP-3 is, and why it matters
Perpetual futures, or perps, are derivatives contracts with no expiry date. Traders use them to bet on price moves, often with leverage, without ever owning the underlying asset.
HIP-3 has been live on Hyperliquid’s mainnet since October 13, 2025. It allows third-party builders to create their own perpetual markets, provided they stake a minimum of 500,000 HYPE tokens.
HIP-3 markets made up approximately 26.7% of Hyperliquid volume. Total Hyperliquid volume came in at $64.7 billion over the 30 days ending around October 20, 2026.
Open interest for HIP-3 markets stood at $3.92 billion.
One builder, trade.xyz, accounted for roughly 97-98% of HIP-3 volume and open interest.
Background: Payward’s regulated derivatives push
The Bitnomial acquisition in May 2026 is the piece that makes this plan possible. By owning a registered entity that can serve as a deployer and clearinghouse, Payward can try to fit a decentralized trading venue inside the US regulatory perimeter.
Payward has also said it intends to serve clients in over 190 countries and territories. The HIP-3 plan, however, is aimed squarely at the US market, where access to offshore perps has been restricted.
The strategy amounts to layering US compliance on top of Hyperliquid’s infrastructure. The goal, per the research findings, is a trading environment for US investors that does not expose them to the risks of current offshore markets.
What this means for traders and the derivatives market
The allowlist model means US users would trade on a public order book alongside other participants, but only after passing through regulated onboarding.
The 500,000 HYPE staking requirement ties the deployer’s economics to a volatile token. That adds a layer of market exposure that traditional clearinghouses do not usually carry.
Key things to watch include regulatory approval for the Bitnomial deployment, which markets launch first, and whether US volume meaningfully shifts HIP-3’s concentration.
Disclosure: This article was edited by John Chen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.