Hyperliquid Tests Permissioned Markets for Payward's US Perps Plan

Perpetual futures have been a retail product largely off-limits to U.S. traders since the CFTC restricted leveraged crypto derivatives after Dodd-Frank, pushing volume to offshore venues like Binance and Bybit. Hyperliquid built its name as a decentralized perp exchange serving that offshore market. Kraken, via parent company Payward, has spent recent years pursuing U.S. derivatives licensing, including a 2024 deal for NinjaTrader's futures infrastructure, making it a natural first mover for an onshore, compliant version of the product.

If approved, Payward would run U.S. perpetual futures through Hyperliquid's HIP-3 framework via Bitnomial, letting American clients trade onchain contracts under CFTC oversight rather than through offshore accounts. The setup uses permissioned, allowlisted markets rather than opening Hyperliquid's existing books to new rules. Traders outside the U.S. see no change to current markets; U.S.-based traders gain a regulated, blockchain-settled alternative to products previously accessible only through unregistered offshore platforms. (per thedefiant.io)

A CFTC-regulated deployer sitting atop a protocol built for permissionless trading tests how much decentralization survives contact with U.S. securities and derivatives law. Allowlists and a permissioned framework are the price of regulatory entry, and critics will note that a 'decentralized' exchange gating access through one compliant intermediary looks closer to a licensed broker with a blockchain backend. Whether that trade-off expands legitimate access or dilutes the original design is a genuine, unresolved argument. (per crypto-economy.com)

The contracts Payward wants to list still require CFTC sign-off, and Hyperliquid's own Oct. 26 announcement treated the Bitnomial-linked structure as a proposal, not a finished product. Approval would make Payward the first entity offering CFTC-regulated perpetual futures on a blockchain-based venue in the U.S., a template other exchanges could copy. Rejection or delay would leave Hyperliquid's U.S. ambitions theoretical, and keep regulated onchain perpetuals an offshore phenomenon for now.