Hyperliquid Labs is in advanced talks with Payward, Kraken’s parent company, over a structure that could give U.S. traders regulated access to crypto perpetual futures linked to the Hyperliquid ecosystem. The proposed arrangement would route eligible products through Bitnomial rather than opening Hyperliquid’s decentralized platform directly to U.S. users, according to Bloomberg Law.
Under the contemplated framework, U.S. customers would access selected perpetual futures through Bitnomial, Payward’s CFTC-regulated derivatives infrastructure. The plan remains subject to regulatory approval, and neither the specific contracts nor the commercial terms have been disclosed. Representatives of Payward and Hyperliquid Labs declined to comment on the negotiations, Bloomberg reported.
Bitnomial Could Provide the Regulatory Gateway
Payward completed its acquisition of Bitnomial in May after initially agreeing to pay up to $550 million in cash and stock. Bitnomial’s official acquisition announcement said the transaction gave Payward control of a U.S. derivatives stack spanning an exchange, clearinghouse and brokerage infrastructure. That regulated structure could provide the compliance layer needed to offer Hyperliquid-linked derivatives to eligible American customers.
Bitnomial Exchange is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a Designated Contract Market, while Bitnomial Clearinghouse is a registered Derivatives Clearing Organization. Those licenses allow the group to operate regulated U.S. derivatives trading and clearing infrastructure, with customer onboarding, transaction monitoring and other compliance obligations handled inside the regulated framework.
The model would preserve an important separation between Hyperliquid’s permissionless blockchain infrastructure and the U.S. trading venue. American customers would interact with a regulated intermediary rather than directly accessing Hyperliquid’s existing decentralized exchange, addressing some of the jurisdictional barriers surrounding offshore perpetual-futures platforms.
U.S. Perpetual Futures Push Takes Shape
Perpetual futures have become a major product category in crypto markets because they allow leveraged exposure without a fixed expiration date. In the United States, however, offering those contracts requires navigating federal derivatives rules. A Bitnomial arrangement could create a pathway for Hyperliquid-linked products without requiring the protocol itself to become the customer-facing U.S. venue.
Payward has already described Bitnomial as the foundation for expanding CFTC-regulated perpetuals, options and other derivatives across its U.S. businesses. A Hyperliquid partnership would extend that strategy by connecting regulated distribution with products referencing assets built on decentralized blockchain infrastructure.
The negotiations do not yet guarantee a launch. Regulatory clearance remains necessary, and the final product set could differ from what is currently under discussion. Until the CFTC process is complete, the proposal should be viewed as an advanced market-entry plan rather than confirmed U.S. access to Hyperliquid perpetuals.
If approved, the arrangement would offer a notable test of how decentralized trading infrastructure can interact with regulated U.S. derivatives markets. The broader significance lies in whether compliant intermediaries can become gateways between permissionless protocols and American investors without bringing the underlying decentralized platforms directly inside the U.S. retail market.
Emma Lawson writes about the pressure points where crypto meets the outside world: regulation, exchanges, macro policy, tokenized assets and geopolitical risk. From the US, she follows the decisions and events that can change how capital moves, how platforms operate and how digital assets are treated by institutions.
Her work is direct and evidence-led. Emma is less interested in legal theatre than in practical consequences: what changed, who is affected, which risks are real and where the market may be overreacting. She brings a steady voice to complex stories, especially when regulation, infrastructure and global markets start pulling in the same direction.