Hyperliquid Could Enter U.S. Derivatives Market Through…

Hyperliquid Labs is exploring a route into the U.S. perpetual futures market through Payward, the parent company of Kraken, in a structure that would connect American traders to selected markets from Hyperliquid's decentralized exchange. The plan has reportedly been presented to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, but final regulatory approval remains pending.

Under the proposed arrangement, Payward subsidiary Bitnomial would give registered U.S. users access to certain crypto perpetual contracts tied to markets running on Hyperliquid and its Layer 1 blockchain. That regulated infrastructure became available after Payward completed its acquisition of Bitnomial in May for up to $550 million. Bitnomial operates a full U.S. derivatives stack — a designated contract market, a derivatives clearing organization and a futures commission merchant — all overseen by the CFTC, which could let it act as the intermediary connecting onchain liquidity with U.S. customers while keeping trading, clearing and brokerage inside the existing framework.

A shifting regulatory backdrop

Perpetual futures, which offer leveraged exposure without an expiry date, dominate offshore crypto derivatives activity but have long been hard to offer to U.S. users because of registration, custody, clearing and market-structure restrictions. The CFTC has begun opening a path: in May it approved KalshiEX's Bitcoin perpetual contract as a futures product and issued guidance tied to Coinbase Financial Markets offering certain crypto perpetuals listed on affiliated foreign venues. The agency has also been examining 24/7 trading and the use of perpetual structures beyond crypto. Those steps do not clear the Payward proposal on their own, but they establish a regulatory foundation that previously did not exist in the U.S.

Legal and technical hurdles remain. Ashley Ebersole, a former senior counsel at the Securities and Exchange Commission and now chief legal officer at real-world assets platform tx, said both the SEC and CFTC may need to revise interpretations covering custody and existing trade-routing requirements. She estimated that process could take at least 10 to 12 months even if regulators moved quickly, making the structure a medium-term route rather than an imminent launch. The Hyperliquid Policy Center has separately urged both agencies to build a harmonized framework for perpetual contracts, arguing in an Aug. 24 paper that uncertainty over whether perpetuals are futures or swaps has helped push the market offshore. Contracts referencing securities or other regulated assets would raise harder jurisdictional questions, potentially limiting which Hyperliquid-linked markets are available first.

A successful launch would open a large pool of U.S. traders to Hyperliquid's core products and test whether decentralized liquidity can be integrated into the American derivatives system. It arrives as HYPE recently hit a record above $86 and has gained more than 85% over the past year. If the model is approved, other offshore or decentralized derivatives platforms could pursue similar structures instead of building a full U.S. operation.