What to Know

  • Payward plans to offer U.S. clients access to onchain perpetual futures on Hyperliquid’s public blockchain, subject to regulatory approval.
  • The company aims to begin with Hyperliquid HIP-3 markets, which allow third parties to deploy and administer permissioned perpetual futures markets.
  • The contracts would be listed under the rules of Bitnomial Exchange, Payward’s designated contract market regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
  • NinjaTrader Clearing would carry approved client futures accounts, with clients needing approval from both NinjaTrader Clearing and Bitnomial.
  • Payward acquired Bitnomial in May for $550 million and bought NinjaTrader Clearing for $1.5 billion in 2025.
  • Perpetual futures have largely traded outside U.S. regulated markets since their debut in 2016.
  • More than $85 trillion in perpetual futures trading volume changed hands worldwide in 2025, while Hyperliquid settles roughly 9% of all open perpetual positions worldwide.
  • Payward has not disclosed a launch date, fee schedule, projected trading volumes or the terms of any economic arrangement with Hyperliquid.
  • The plan would not make Hyperliquid’s existing perpetual markets available to U.S. customers.

Payward Moves to Bring Onchain Perpetuals Into a U.S. Framework

Payward is preparing a significant move in U.S. crypto derivatives by planning to offer domestic clients access to onchain perpetual futures markets on Hyperliquid’s public blockchain. The proposal remains subject to regulatory approval, but it signals a clear effort to connect one of crypto’s most active onchain derivatives venues with a regulated U.S. market structure.

The plan is designed around Hyperliquid HIP-3 markets, a framework that allows third parties to deploy and administer their own permissioned perpetual futures markets. Rather than opening Hyperliquid’s existing order books directly to U.S. traders, Payward would create new contracts that operate through a regulated structure while still using Hyperliquid’s public blockchain for onchain market activity.

Payward co-CEO Arjun Sethi said the firm plans to be the first registered U.S. exchange to launch perpetuals on Hyperliquid. If approved, the structure would place Payward-created contracts under the rules of Bitnomial Exchange, the company’s designated contract market regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. That would make the proposal an important test of how onchain trading systems can be adapted for U.S. derivatives oversight.

How the Proposed Market Structure Would Work

Under the plan, U.S. clients would need futures accounts with Payward’s registered broker, NinjaTrader Clearing. Those accounts would need approval from both NinjaTrader Clearing and Bitnomial before clients could trade the new contracts. Bitnomial Exchange and Bitnomial Clearinghouse would act as the HIP-3 deployer, creating, owning and administering the market while clearing and settling the contracts.

The trading activity would take place on Hyperliquid’s public blockchain, where its onchain order book matches and records trades. This is a key feature of the proposal because it preserves the onchain infrastructure that has made Hyperliquid a major venue for perpetual futures while adding regulated intermediaries around access, clearing and customer accounts.

Jon Pham, Payward’s head of U.S. derivatives, described the concept as a U.S. client opening a futures account with Payward’s registered broker and trading new perpetual futures contracts on Hyperliquid, cleared through the same clearinghouse that already supports the crypto perpetual contracts Payward offers U.S. clients today. That framing highlights the company’s attempt to extend an existing regulated derivatives stack into a new onchain venue.

Why Perpetual Futures Matter in Crypto Markets

Perpetual futures are derivative products that let traders take positions on the price movement of an underlying digital asset without owning the asset directly. Unlike traditional futures contracts, perpetuals do not expire. Traders can maintain positions indefinitely, provided they meet margin requirements and make or receive periodic funding payments tied to market conditions.

These instruments have become central to crypto trading because they offer continuous exposure, leverage and high liquidity across digital asset markets. Since their debut in 2016, perpetual futures have largely traded outside U.S. regulated markets. That offshore dominance has made them popular with global traders while limiting direct access for U.S. participants operating under domestic compliance standards.

The size of the market underscores why regulated firms are paying attention. In 2025 alone, more than $85 trillion changed hands worldwide in perpetual futures trading. Hyperliquid’s decentralized exchange settles roughly 9% of all open perpetual positions worldwide, making it a major onchain venue in a product category that has become deeply embedded in crypto market structure.

Bitnomial and NinjaTrader Are Central to the Strategy

Payward’s expansion plan relies heavily on two major acquisitions. The company acquired Bitnomial in May for $550 million, giving it control of a designated contract market regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. It also bought NinjaTrader Clearing for $1.5 billion in 2025, adding a registered futures commission merchant that can carry client accounts.

Together, those businesses provide the regulated components needed for the proposed Hyperliquid deployment. Bitnomial Exchange would list the contracts under its rules, Bitnomial Clearinghouse would support clearing and settlement, and NinjaTrader Clearing would manage approved client accounts. This arrangement is intended to satisfy U.S. futures market requirements while retaining the distinctive features of an onchain order book.

For market participants, the structure matters because it separates Payward’s proposed U.S. contracts from Hyperliquid’s broader existing perpetual markets. Approval would not mean U.S. customers could access all existing Hyperliquid perps. Instead, they would trade new Payward-created contracts built for a regulated U.S. environment.

Regulatory Approval Remains the Key Condition

The proposal depends on regulatory approval, and Payward has not announced a launch date. The company has also not disclosed its fee schedule, expected trading volumes, details of any economic arrangement with Hyperliquid or how revenue from the new markets would be divided. Those missing details leave several open questions for traders, competitors and infrastructure providers watching the plan.

A Kraken spokesperson said the company could not speculate on the potential revenue the deployment could bring and did not address questions about expected trading volumes. Hyperliquid was contacted for comment but had not responded by publication time. As a result, the commercial impact of the proposal remains uncertain even though the strategic direction is clear.

For U.S. regulators, the plan could become a notable case study in how blockchain-based order books, permissioned market deployment and conventional derivatives oversight might coexist. The CFTC-regulated framework would not remove the onchain nature of Hyperliquid’s infrastructure, but it would place customer access, clearing and contract administration inside familiar institutional channels.

Potential Impact for Hyperliquid and the Wider Market

For Hyperliquid, the proposed deployment could bring a CFTC-regulated operator and a new source of U.S.-linked activity to its chain. That could be meaningful for a protocol whose derivatives infrastructure already handles a significant share of global open perpetual positions. However, any benefit would depend on approval, product adoption and the terms of the arrangement between the companies, none of which have been fully disclosed.

The proposal may also arrive at a moment when additional activity could be valuable for the project. Hyperliquid’s revenue fell 43% in third-quarter 2025 to about $202 million in second-quarter 2026, based on DefiLlama data. A regulated U.S. deployment could potentially broaden the protocol’s role in institutional-grade crypto derivatives, though the companies have not provided revenue projections.

For the broader crypto market, the move reflects a continuing shift toward regulated access to products that first gained scale offshore. If successful, Payward’s structure could offer a template for bringing onchain derivatives into U.S. markets without simply importing existing offshore order books. Technical traders and institutional market participants will likely watch whether liquidity, execution quality and compliance requirements can align within the proposed model.

A Regulated Bridge, Not an Open Door to Existing Markets

The most important distinction is that Payward’s plan would not make Hyperliquid’s existing perpetual markets available to U.S. customers. The proposal centers on new contracts created and administered through Bitnomial’s regulated framework, with Hyperliquid’s blockchain providing the onchain venue for matching and recordkeeping. That makes the strategy a bridge between onchain market design and U.S. oversight, not a blanket opening of offshore-style crypto derivatives to domestic clients.

Because perpetual futures are complex leveraged products, regulated access will be closely watched by compliance teams, traders and policymakers. The absence of a launch date and other commercial terms means the proposal is still developing. Even so, Payward’s combination of Bitnomial, NinjaTrader Clearing and Hyperliquid points to a broader industry theme: major crypto firms are trying to make advanced derivatives products available in the U.S. without abandoning the blockchain infrastructure that made those products popular globally.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is Payward planning to offer U.S. clients?

Payward plans to offer U.S. clients access to onchain perpetual futures markets on Hyperliquid’s public blockchain, subject to regulatory approval. The contracts would be newly created for the regulated structure rather than direct access to Hyperliquid’s existing markets.

What role would Bitnomial Exchange play?

Bitnomial Exchange would list the proposed contracts under its rules as Payward’s designated contract market regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Bitnomial Clearinghouse would also support clearing and settlement for the contracts.

What role would NinjaTrader Clearing play?

NinjaTrader Clearing would carry approved client futures accounts. U.S. clients would need accounts with Payward’s registered broker and approval from both NinjaTrader Clearing and Bitnomial before trading the proposed products.

What are Hyperliquid HIP-3 markets?

Hyperliquid HIP-3 markets allow third parties to deploy and administer permissioned perpetual futures markets. Payward plans to use that framework to create regulated U.S. contracts that operate on Hyperliquid’s public blockchain.

Would U.S. clients get access to all existing Hyperliquid perpetual markets?

No. The proposal does not mean Hyperliquid’s existing perpetual markets become available to U.S. customers. It would involve new Payward-created contracts listed and administered through the regulated Bitnomial structure.

Has Payward announced a launch date?

No. Payward has not disclosed a planned launch date, fee schedule, expected trading volumes or the details of any economic arrangement with Hyperliquid. The plan remains subject to regulatory approval.

Why are perpetual futures important in crypto?

Perpetual futures let traders take positions on digital asset price movements without owning the underlying asset and without a contract expiration date. They have become a major part of global crypto trading, with more than $85 trillion in worldwide volume in 2025.

How large is Hyperliquid’s role in the perpetual futures market?

Hyperliquid’s decentralized exchange settles roughly 9% of all open perpetual positions worldwide. That share makes it a significant onchain venue for crypto derivatives activity.

Could this plan benefit Hyperliquid?

The proposed deployment could add a CFTC-regulated operator and U.S.-linked activity to Hyperliquid’s chain. However, the companies have not disclosed revenue-sharing terms, projected trading volume or other commercial details.