Hyperliquid's Route Into the US Runs Through Kraken's Bitnomial

Hyperliquid seeks US traders through Kraken parent Payward

Hyperliquid Labs is in advanced talks with Payward, the parent company of exchange Kraken, to bring a selection of its perpetual futures to United States traders, according to Bloomberg. Under the proposed structure, Payward subsidiary Bitnomial would let registered US users trade a subset of contracts linked to markets on Hyperliquid's decentralized exchange and Layer 1 blockchain. Bloomberg reported the talks on 31 August 2026, citing people familiar with the matter, and representatives for both companies declined to comment. US traders would not reach the full offshore platform. Instead, registered Bitnomial users could trade a limited menu of Hyperliquid-linked contracts under US rules, with identity checks, according to the report. The Singapore-based platform handles more than $4 billion in daily volume but stays off-limits to American customers.

Bitnomial gives Payward a CFTC-licensed derivatives stack

Payward completed its acquisition of Bitnomial on 1 May 2026, paying up to $550 million in cash and stock. The deal handed Payward a full derivatives stack regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC): an exchange, a clearinghouse, and a brokerage. That licensed infrastructure sits at the center of the reported plan. Routing US access through Bitnomial would supply the registered operator and oversight that federal rules demand, without Hyperliquid's decentralized platform itself registering as a US exchange.

HYPE trades near its record after the report

HYPE, Hyperliquid's native token, traded at $84.08 at the time of publication, up 4.0% over the past 24 hours (CoinPaprika, 1 September 2026). The token set a record high of $86.53 on 27 August 2026 and sits about 2.8% below that peak. The token has added about 4.2% over the past week. Its market value stood near $18.7 billion, ranking HYPE among the ten largest cryptocurrencies (CoinPaprika, 1 September 2026).

Regulators push perpetual futures trading back onshore

The talks land as US regulators work to pull offshore perpetual futures trading onto domestic venues. In May 2026, the CFTC cleared KalshiEX and Coinbase to list crypto perpetual futures. In June 2026, it issued a request for comment on crude oil perpetual contracts and round-the-clock trading. President Donald Trump said on 19 August 2026 that CFTC Chairman Michael Selig was working to bring Hyperliquid into the US in a compliant way. A week before the report, the Hyperliquid Policy Center urged the SEC and the CFTC to harmonize their treatment of perpetual contracts, arguing that clearer rules would move more trading onshore.

"If the United States fails to keep pace with rapid advances in trading and markets, we risk ceding our reputation as the global hub of financial innovation", 31 August 2026. — CFTC spokesperson, statement to The Block

A deal still needs CFTC approval to proceed

Any agreement would still require regulatory sign-off. Payward has presented the CFTC with an outline of the proposed structure, according to Bloomberg, but final approval is pending. Bloomberg noted that a successful deal could set a template for other offshore venues seeking a legal route into the US market. Financial terms of the potential arrangement were not disclosed.

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