Payward, the parent company of Kraken, announced on September 16, 2026 that it intends to deploy onchain perpetual futures markets for U.S. clients, starting with Hyperliquid HIP-3 builder-de
Payward, the parent company of Kraken, announced on September 16, 2026 that it intends to deploy onchain perpetual futures markets for U.S. clients, starting with Hyperliquid HIP-3 builder-deployed permissioned markets, targeting a segment of the more than $85 trillion in perpetual-futures volume that traded worldwide in 2025.
The proposed offering is a plan subject to regulatory approval, not a confirmed launch. Payward's announcement positions Bitnomial as the entity that would create, own, and administer the HIP-3 market and clear and settle the contracts, while NinjaTrader Clearing would carry client accounts under its existing regulatory framework. For related coverage, see LatAm Telecom Operator Puts Part of Its Finances on Avalanche.
Jon Pham, speaking in the Payward press release, said a U.S. client would open a futures account with Payward's registered broker and trade new perpetual futures contracts on Hyperliquid, cleared through the same clearinghouse that already supports the crypto perpetual contracts Payward offers U.S. clients today.
The structure routes U.S. client activity through regulated intermediaries rather than granting direct access to Hyperliquid's existing public order book. Hyperliquid processed more than $200 billion in volume over the 30 days prior to the announcement, per figures cited by Payward and attributed to DefiLlama.
HYPE, Hyperliquid's native token, was priced at $78.25 at the time of the research snapshot, up 1.39% over 24 hours, with a market capitalization of approximately $17.4 billion and 24-hour trading volume near $890.7 million.
HYPE market snapshot $78.25 Research snapshot: +1.39% over 24 hours; market context only.The broad Crypto Fear & Greed Index registered 51 (Neutral) at the time of the research snapshot, reflecting neither elevated risk appetite nor significant stress across the wider crypto derivatives market.
Crypto Fear & Greed Index 51 Neutral Broad crypto-market sentiment in the research snapshot; not specific to this announcement.The HYPE price move of +1.39% over 24 hours and the Neutral sentiment reading are market context only; no causal relationship between these figures and Payward's announcement has been established.
Payward has separately been developing AI-driven tools for its trading infrastructure, with Kraken planning agentic trading tools with AI bots to monitor markets, signaling a broader effort to expand the firm's product suite beyond spot trading. The HIP-3 perpetuals plan represents a distinct regulatory and market-structure initiative targeting the CFTC-regulated derivatives space.
Payward's U.S. derivatives push arrives at a period of elevated regulatory scrutiny; the failure of the Clarity Act previously wiped out over $570 million in crypto longs, underscoring how sensitive leveraged crypto markets remain to legislative and regulatory developments.
No launch date, fee structure, margin requirements, or leverage caps have been disclosed. The offering remains conditional on regulatory clearance, and neither Bitnomial nor NinjaTrader Clearing has published separate confirmations of go-live timelines.
Access will be limited to accounts that complete NinjaTrader's onboarding process and appear on both the NinjaTrader and Bitnomial allowlists simultaneously, a dual-gating structure that narrows the eligible pool relative to standard exchange signup.
Traders tracking the broader regulatory calendar for CFTC-regulated crypto derivatives should note that regulatory timelines for novel crypto products can shift materially; the XRP ETF SEC delay pushed the Teucrium short fund to October 11, illustrating that pattern. Key support for HYPE sits at its 30-day volume-weighted levels, while the primary catalyst for any directional move in open interest would be a confirmed launch announcement accompanied by Bitnomial's contract specifications and CFTC acknowledgment. Until those disclosures arrive, the Bitcoin Coinbase premium and broader U.S. institutional flow data remain the most observable proxies for domestic demand in regulated crypto derivatives.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency and digital asset markets carry significant risk. Always do your own research before making decisions.
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