Payward, Kraken’s parent company, announced September 16 that it intends to deploy new perpetual futures markets for U.S. clients on Hyperliquid, combining an onchain order book with regulated exchange, clearing and brokerage entities. The proposal remains subject to regulatory approval; it is not a live U.S. product launch.

The company plans to start with builder-deployed HIP-3 markets. Hyperliquid’s public blockchain would match and record trades, while Payward’s Bitnomial exchange and clearinghouse would create, own and administer the markets, then clear and settle the contracts.

NinjaTrader Clearing, Payward’s CFTC-registered futures commission merchant, would carry customer accounts. Access would be restricted to clients onboarded by NinjaTrader and included on both NinjaTrader’s and Bitnomial’s allowlists. Using a public blockchain would therefore not make these markets permissionless for traders.

New contracts, not unrestricted access

The distinction matters: the proposal would introduce new Payward-operated contracts on Hyperliquid, rather than open the protocol’s existing perpetual markets to U.S. customers. Payward says the contracts would be listed under Bitnomial Exchange’s rules, with regulatory obligations retained by its registered entities.

Perpetual futures provide price exposure without a conventional expiry date. The proposed structure would place that product on shared blockchain infrastructure while keeping customer access and clearing inside a regulated framework.

CoinDesk reported that Payward had not disclosed a launch date, fee schedule or expected trading volumes. Those omissions limit what can be concluded about adoption or commercial impact. The concrete development is a proposed division of responsibilities: Hyperliquid supplies onchain trade infrastructure, while Payward’s businesses control market operation, accounts and clearing.