Kraken's Parent Company Explores Path for Hyperliquid U.S. Expansion Following Trump's Promise

Payward, Kraken's parent company, plans to launch on-chain perpetual futures trading for U.S. customers through a market built on Hyperliquid's HIP-3 framework, marking the first pre-approved market deployed by a builder within the protocol.

Payward's April acquisition of CFTC-regulated exchange Bitnomi will deploy and清算 the new market, with NinjaTrader Clearing, registered as a futures broker, handling customer onboarding.

The move is not about a new regulation but a regulatory path. Hyperliquid has seen trading volume exceed $20 billion over the past 30 days, making it the busiest on-chain derivatives marketplace globally, though U.S. traders cannot officially use it yet.

Several platforms already operate builder-deployed markets on Hyperliquid, but one holds 98% of open interest, and none are registered exchanges or clearinghouses in the U.S., which Payward claims its structure will resolve.

HYPE has surged 211% this year. Kraken's plan to address this issue aligns with President Trump's August statement that the CFTC would establish a regulatory compliance path for such exchanges.

Payward already offers its own crypto perpetual futures to U.S. customers through similar clearing structures, having acquired Bitnomi for $55 million to secure direct CFTC infrastructure without third parties.

The plan remains pending regulatory approval, with no set launch date. Recent scrutiny over North Korean-linked wallet activity at Hyperliquid has raised questions about its compliance history.

Whether Bitnomi's structure satisfies regulators will determine how quickly Hyperliquid can reach U.S. traders; the announcement alone does not guarantee this outcome.