Hyperliquid Eyes U.S. Breakthrough Through Kraken Parent’s Regulated Derivatives Platform

Hyperliquid could finally be coming to America — but not by opening its decentralized exchange directly to U.S. traders. Hyperliquid Labs is reportedly in advanced talks with Kraken parent company Payward to offer selected perpetual futures through Bitnomial, giving the fast-growing DeFi platform a potential pathway into the U.S. derivatives market under CFTC oversight.

The proposed arrangement comes just weeks after President Donald Trump publicly said his administration was working to bring Hyperliquid into the United States in a “fully compliant and legal fashion.”

Hyperliquid Would Enter Through Bitnomial

Under the proposal, American traders wouldn’t receive unrestricted access to Hyperliquid’s decentralized exchange.

Instead, eligible U.S. customers would use Bitnomial, a regulated digital-asset exchange and clearinghouse owned by Payward, to trade a selection of perpetual futures tied to crypto markets built around Hyperliquid’s technology. 

The proposed structure would essentially look like:

Hyperliquid markets → Payward infrastructure → Bitnomial regulated exchange → U.S. traders

That separation could allow Hyperliquid to tap into the American market without transforming its permissionless decentralized exchange into a traditional U.S.-registered trading platform.

Kraken’s Parent Already Built the Regulatory Door

Payward’s ownership of Bitnomial is what makes the proposal possible.

The company completed its acquisition of Bitnomial in May after agreeing to pay up to $550 million in cash and stock. 

Bitnomial holds the three major CFTC licenses necessary for its full-stack U.S. derivatives operation, covering:

• A Designated Contract Market
• A Derivatives Clearing Organization
• A Futures Commission Merchant

Payward specifically said when completing the acquisition that the infrastructure would eventually support perpetuals and options for eligible U.S. clients under CFTC regulation.

Hyperliquid could now become one of the biggest beneficiaries of that strategy.

The CFTC Still Has to Say Yes

There is no completed Hyperliquid-Payward deal yet.

Payward has reportedly presented the Commodity Futures Trading Commission with an outline explaining how the structure could work, but regulators haven’t granted final approval. 

Former SEC senior counsel Ashley Ebersole told The Block that bringing Hyperliquid into the U.S. could potentially require involvement from both the SEC and CFTC, particularly around custody and trade-routing requirements.

He estimated the regulatory process could take at least 10 to 12 months even if things moved quickly. 

The discussions nevertheless show how dramatically Washington’s approach toward crypto derivatives is changing.

The CFTC already took steps earlier this year toward allowing crypto perpetual futures in regulated U.S. markets, including approvals involving Coinbase and KalshiEX. 

Hyperliquid Has Built a $4 Billion-a-Day Trading Machine

There’s a major reason Hyperliquid wants access to U.S. traders.

The platform has become one of crypto’s dominant decentralized derivatives venues, reportedly processing more than $4 billion in daily trading volume. 

But its decentralized and permissionless design has also created regulatory complications.

U.S. regulators have historically been concerned about how decentralized trading platforms handle issues including market manipulation, sanctions compliance and anti-money-laundering requirements when there isn’t a traditional centralized operator controlling every transaction.

Using Bitnomial could provide a regulated layer between Hyperliquid’s markets and American traders.

HYPE Jumps as Traders Bet on America

The possibility of U.S. expansion immediately gave HYPE another catalyst.

The token jumped toward $84.28 following reports of the talks after trading around $79.23 earlier in the session. HYPE was also approximately 230% higher year-to-date, according to Crypto Times’ market snapshot. 

HYPE had recently reached an all-time high above $86, making it one of crypto’s strongest-performing major tokens over the past year. 

But traders are currently pricing in a possibility, not an approved launch.

There is still no finalized agreement, no regulatory approval and no confirmed date for U.S. trading.

Hyperliquid Could Create a Blueprint for Bringing DeFi Onshore

The bigger story isn’t simply Hyperliquid entering another country.

If regulators approve the structure, it could demonstrate a new way for decentralized or offshore crypto markets to reach American customers.

Instead of forcing a DeFi protocol itself to become a traditional exchange, its markets could potentially connect with regulated U.S. intermediaries responsible for trading access, clearing and compliance.

That could create a bridge between two systems that have largely existed separately:

Permissionless DeFi infrastructure on one side and regulated American financial markets on the other.

Hyperliquid has already proven that traders want perpetual futures. Bitnomial has spent more than a decade building the regulatory infrastructure to offer crypto derivatives in America.

Now Payward may be trying to connect the two.

Hyperliquid isn’t officially coming to the U.S. yet, but for the first time, there’s a regulated doorway — and Kraken’s parent company owns it.