Payward, Kraken’s parent company, plans to offer eligible U.S. clients perpetual futures matched on Hyperliquid’s onchain order book. The plan requires regulatory approval and would split market, clearing and account functions among separate firms.
- Bitnomial Exchange would operate the markets, while Bitnomial Clearinghouse would clear and settle contracts.
- NinjaTrader Clearing would carry customer accounts.
- Only approved clients could access the proposed U.S. offering.
- Payward has announced neither a launch date nor any contracts.
A regulated route to onchain perpetuals
Payward announced the plan on September 16, 2026. It would give approved U.S. clients access to new perpetual futures markets built through Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 framework. Trading has not begun. Payward says the offering depends on regulatory approval, but has not disclosed which specific approvals it needs.
Perpetual futures, often called “perps, ” are futures-style contracts with no fixed expiry date. They commonly use periodic funding payments to keep a contract’s price aligned with the underlying asset. Payward has not disclosed the proposed contracts’ funding design, leverage limits, margin requirements or liquidation rules.
The proposed arrangement splits up several functions. Bitnomial Exchange would deploy and manage the markets, while Bitnomial Clearinghouse would clear and settle the contracts. NinjaTrader Clearing, a registered futures commission merchant (FCM), would carry customer accounts. An FCM handles customer accounts for futures trading. Payward acquired NinjaTrader in May 2025. The available information does not establish that Payward owns Bitnomial.
Customers would need approval through the regulated firms before trading. Their orders would be matched on Hyperliquid’s public onchain order book. Public infrastructure does not mean open access: the proposed U.S. product would restrict who can place orders. The plan does not establish that Hyperliquid’s other markets would have the same restrictions.
What HIP-3 contributes
Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 framework allows third-party builders to operate their own perpetual markets. A ChainCatcher explainer says builders must stake at least 500, 000 HYPE to deploy a market. That is a framework-level deployment requirement, not a guarantee that a market will be safe, liquid or suitable for every trader.
HIP-3 could let Payward build on existing onchain trading infrastructure instead of creating a separate venue from scratch. But the available details do not explain how collateral, custody, liquidations or disputes would work across the firms and systems involved. They also do not establish that the contracts themselves would settle onchain. So far, the plan describes onchain order matching.
Public order book, restricted access
The proposal pairs regulated derivatives services with a public onchain order book. Eligible U.S. clients may get a way to trade on infrastructure associated with crypto-native markets without being sent to an offshore venue. But a public order book does not make the product permissionless, and putting it on a blockchain does not eliminate intermediaries.
Payward co-CEO Arjun Sethi has described the plan as a first for a registered U.S. exchange. That is a claim from the company, not independent proof that no comparable product exists. Its significance will depend on the final structure, the approvals it receives and whether clients can use the service in practice. Regulatory scrutiny of Hyperliquid is a reminder that institutional interest does not make oversight concerns go away.
Key questions about Payward’s Hyperliquid plan
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Has Payward launched U.S. perpetual futures on Hyperliquid?
No. The proposed offering still requires regulatory approval, and no launch date has been announced.
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Who would operate the markets and handle customer accounts?
Bitnomial Exchange would manage the markets, Bitnomial Clearinghouse would clear and settle contracts, and NinjaTrader Clearing would carry customer accounts.
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Could anyone trade the proposed U.S. offering?
No. Clients would need approval through the regulated firms. The order book may be public, but access to this offering would be restricted.
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Which contracts will be available?
Payward has not named any markets or contracts.
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Which trading rules remain unknown?
Payward has not disclosed the proposed funding, leverage, margin, liquidation or collateral rules. Those details matter because perpetuals can magnify losses as well as gains.
A bridge, not a risk-free shortcut
If approved, the proposal could connect U.S. clients to onchain perpetual markets through regulated exchange, clearing and account services. It would be a meaningful test of how conventional derivatives infrastructure can work with public blockchain trading.
Traders do not yet have enough information to assess the product fully. Until Payward discloses the contracts and operating rules and the approval process is resolved, the plan remains a proposed route into the market. It does not prove that the regulatory, operational or trading risks have been settled.
