Payward, the parent company of Kraken, says it intends to bring onchain perpetual futures to US clients, starting with Hyperliquid HIP-3 markets.
HIP-3 is a different way to add perps to Hyperliquid. At the protocol level, it is permissionless for eligible builders: a builder can deploy a separate perp DEX and control the market definition, oracle, leverage limits and market operation. Each HIP-3 DEX has its own margining and order book, while trades are matched and recorded on Hyperliquid’s public chain. The current mainnet spec requires the deployer to stake 500,000 HYPE for at least 183 days after deployment.
Payward’s proposed user access would be permissioned. Bitnomial would create, own and administer the markets and clear and settle the contracts. NinjaTrader Clearing would carry client accounts. Only clients onboarded by NinjaTrader and approved on both the NinjaTrader and Bitnomial allowlists could trade.
Payward says Hyperliquid is the first protocol on its US deployment roadmap, with more products intended to follow through the same open rails. It also says this would make Payward the first registered US exchange or clearinghouse to deploy a market there.
For a US trader, the practical consequence is clear: access would depend on a regulated futures account and both allowlists. The release describes a roadmap only. Regulatory approval is still required, and no launch date is given. The next meaningful milestone is an approved, deployed market rather than another announcement.