Payward, the parent company of Kraken, plans to become the first CFTC-regulated deployer on Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 framework, bringing onchain perpetual futures to allowlisted US clients pending regulatory approval.
Payward announced the plan on September 16, and the details of the arrangement, including the new HIP-3* allowlist variant, circulated again in a Hyperliquid update on October 26. Under it, Bitnomial, a CFTC-regulated exchange and clearinghouse that Payward acquired in May, would act as the deployer, managing the markets and clearing and settling contracts. NinjaTrader Clearing, a CFTC-registered futures commission merchant, would carry client accounts.
Access would be limited. Only accounts allowlisted through the regulated entities could trade, with compliance checks at the point of entry while matching runs on Hyperliquid’s public onchain order book. A new variant of the framework, HIP-3*, adds optional onchain allowlists for permissioned markets without touching existing HIP-3 markets; its initial version is on testnet and its specifications can still change.
The offering is aimed at the US market, where access to offshore perpetual futures venues has been restricted. No launch date and no specific markets have been disclosed.
A regulated door into onchain perps
If approved, the setup would be the first entry of a US-registered exchange and clearinghouse into onchain perpetual futures infrastructure. It would give US retail and institutional traders a regulated path to a market they currently reach mainly through offshore venues.
HIP-3 has been live on Hyperliquid’s mainnet since October 13, 2025. It lets third-party builders run their own perpetual markets after staking at least 500,000 HYPE. In the 30 days ending around October 20, HIP-3 markets accounted for about 26.7% of Hyperliquid’s $64.7 billion in volume, and HIP-3 open interest stood at $3.92 billion.
One builder, trade.xyz, took roughly 97-98% of HIP-3 volume and open interest. A regulated deployer would broaden that base.
Payward said it intends to serve clients in more than 190 countries and territories. Co-CEO Arjun Sethi framed the move as giving US clients access to onchain perpetuals while meeting the firm’s regulatory obligations.
