Payward pursues US access to HYPE perpetual futures

Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, is pursuing a route to offer US traders perpetual futures linked to Hyperliquid’s HYPE token, but publicly available regulatory and Kraken product information indicates the proposed expansion has not yet been confirmed as a live US offering.

The move would broaden Payward’s regulated derivatives business and give eligible American customers exposure to one of the crypto market’s most actively watched tokens through contracts that have no fixed expiry. Discussions have centred on using Bitnomial, Payward’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission-regulated derivatives business, to provide access to selected perpetual contracts associated with Hyperliquid markets.

Payward had outlined the proposed structure to the CFTC by the end of August, with regulatory clearance still required. Hyperliquid Labs and Payward did not publicly announce a completed launch at that stage. The arrangement under discussion would connect Hyperliquid-linked markets with a regulated US derivatives venue rather than allow American customers direct access to Hyperliquid’s offshore-style perpetual futures market. That distinction remains central to the product’s regulatory status.

Current Kraken product information draws a clear distinction between US and overseas access to HYPE derivatives. Kraken says eligible customers outside the United States can trade HYPE/USD perpetual futures on Kraken Pro, while US clients have access to fixed-term Hyperliquid futures through Kraken Derivatives US. Its US-facing HYPE futures page describes those domestic contracts as CME-listed and collateralised in US dollars.

That distinction is significant because perpetual futures differ from conventional dated futures. Perpetual contracts have no expiry date and rely on periodic funding payments between long and short positions to keep their price aligned with the underlying market. Their structure has made them a major part of global cryptocurrency derivatives trading, while US availability has historically been more restricted by regulation.

Payward has nevertheless been expanding regulated perpetual products for American traders. The company said during the second quarter that it had introduced the first CFTC-regulated perpetual futures available to US traders using its Bitnomial infrastructure. Kraken had earlier announced plans to make regulated perpetual contracts available domestically alongside spot, margin and CME-listed futures.

CFTC records show Bitnomial has certified a range of perpetual futures products and amended its rules this year to permit contracts without expiration dates. The regulator’s Division of Market Oversight granted no-action relief in June covering the removal of expiration dates from existing digital commodity perpetual-style futures contracts at Bitnomial and Coinbase Derivatives.

The public CFTC product register also shows a certified Hyperliquid US Dollar Spot Contract for Bitnomial, filed in April. That contract is a physically settled, margined futures product tied to HYPE. The same register lists perpetual futures at Bitnomial for assets including bitcoin, ether, solana, XRP, bitcoin cash, litecoin and dogecoin.

However, the publicly searchable Bitnomial listings reviewed on Wednesday did not show a separately certified HYPE perpetual futures contract. Coinbase Derivatives, by contrast, has a CFTC-certified product identified as HYPE Perp Style Futures, underscoring that regulatory treatment can vary by venue and contract design.

For Payward, a HYPE perpetual product would add to a broader push into both crypto-native and traditional financial markets. Nasdaq said last week that its venture arm would invest $100 million in Payward as the companies deepen cooperation on infrastructure for tokenised assets. Payward has also expanded its Kraken, NinjaTrader and institutional trading operations while preparing for wider integration of tokenised securities and derivatives.

Hyperliquid operates a decentralised exchange and its own layer-one blockchain, with HYPE serving as the network’s native utility and governance token. Its perpetual futures platform uses an on-chain central limit order book, a design intended to provide high-speed trading while keeping execution and market activity visible on the blockchain.