Hyperliquid in advanced talks with Kraken parent on US perpetuals entry through Bitnomial

Hyperliquid Labs is in advanced talks with Payward, the parent company of Kraken, to bring perpetual futures to US traders through Bitnomial, a CFTC-regulated futures exchange, according to reporting by The Defiant and The Block. A deal would allow US-based traders to access perpetual futures tied to tokens built on Hyperliquid's blockchain, though any agreement would require regulatory sign-off.

Payward completed its acquisition of Bitnomial in April 2026. Bitnomial was designated as a contract market by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in 2020 and has assembled licenses covering an exchange, clearinghouse and brokerage. In May 2026, Kraken announced plans for CFTC-regulated perpetual futures to trade through Kraken Pro, with those contracts listed on Bitnomial and offered through NinjaTrader Clearing, a CFTC-registered futures commission merchant.

Hyperliquid's public interface currently bars US residents and entities from using it, according to the platform's terms. The platform handles more than $4 billion in daily trading volume. Representatives of Payward and Hyperliquid Labs declined to comment to Bloomberg on the reported talks.

Onchain researcher Shaunda Devens observed testnet features on Hyperliquid including wallet whitelisting and controls that would allow a deployer to cancel user orders, close positions and move collateral. Devens identified a test deployment named 'Kraken HIP-3 test DEX,' referring to Hyperliquid's HIP-3 system for permissionless, builder-deployed perpetual markets. However, Devens cautioned that anyone could launch a testnet exchange under any name, and the observation does not confirm Kraken's involvement or establish that HIP-3 is part of the talks. For now, Bitnomial is the only regulated venue confirmed in the structure reported by Bloomberg, while a HIP-3 implementation remains unconfirmed.

According to U.Today, Payward has presented the CFTC with a proposal outlining the structure. Any deal would still require regulatory approval. The potential agreement would represent Hyperliquid's first direct push into the US market.