Payward aims to be first CFTC-regulated deployer on Hyperliquid’s HIP-3

Payward, the parent company of Kraken, wants to do something no US-registered exchange or clearinghouse has done yet. It plans to become a deployer on Hyperliquid’s HIP-3, the framework that lets outside builders spin up their own perpetual futures markets. How the setup is supposed to work Payward announced the plan on September 16, 2026. The firm said it intends to launch onchain perpetual futures markets built specifically for US clients. The first step is deploying Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 permissioned perpetual markets. Bitnomial, which Payward acquired in May 2026, will act as the HIP-3 deployer. Bitnomial is set to handle market administration and clearing. NinjaTrader Clearing will serve as the futures commission merchant. A futures commission merchant is the regulated middleman that holds client accounts and money for futures trading. Access will be gated. Only accounts allowlisted through these regulated entities will be allowed to trade on the infrastructure. The trades themselves are designed to execute on Hyperliquid’s public blockchain order book. The matching happens onchain, while the compliance checks happen at the door. The rollout depends on regulatory approvals. Payw...