Payward Plans U.S. Perpetual Futures on Hyperliquid

Payward, the parent company of Kraken, announced on Wednesday that it intends to provide American users with access to perpetual futures on the Hyperliquid public blockchain, contingent on receiving regulatory clearance.

The proposal would position Payward as the initial registered U.S. exchange to implement markets on the Hyperliquid protocol. Contracts would be listed under Bitnomial Exchange rules, subject to Commodity Futures Trading Commission oversight. NinjaTrader Clearing would manage approved client accounts.

“A U.S. client would open a futures account with Payward’s registered broker and trade new perpetual futures contracts on Hyperliquid, cleared through the same clearinghouse that already supports the crypto perpetual contracts Payward offers U.S. clients today,” said Jon Pham, head of U.S. derivatives, according to CoinDesk.

Since 2016, perpetual futures have primarily operated outside U.S. regulated markets. CoinGecko’s 2026 State of Crypto Perpetuals Report indicates global trading volume exceeded $85 trillion in 2025. The Hyperliquid decentralized exchange currently handles approximately 9% of global open perpetual positions.

Payward acquired Bitnomial in May for $550 million and purchased NinjaTrader Clearing for $1.5 billion in 2025. The company has not released a fee structure, projected trading volume, or a target launch date.