Payward plans to bring onchain perpetual futures to US clients through Hyperliquid HIP-3*

Hyperliquid and Payward are teaming up to bring regulated perpetual futures markets to US clients, marking the first time a registered American entity will deploy on Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 infrastructure. The partnership routes through Bitnomial, Payward’s subsidiary that holds CFTC exchange and clearinghouse licenses acquired in May 2026.

The result is HIP-3*, an extension of Hyperliquid’s existing market deployment framework that bolts on permissioned allowlists for compliance purposes.

What HIP-3* actually changes

The original HIP-3 protocol launched on October 13, 2025, and turned Hyperliquid into something like a decentralized market factory. Anyone willing to stake 500,000 HYPE tokens could spin up their own perpetual futures market on the chain, no permission needed.

As of September 16, 2026, there are 142 active builder-deployed markets running on HIP-3, generating $2.29 billion in 24-hour trading volume with $3.98 billion in open interest.

HIP-3* solves the permissionless/compliance tension by introducing optional permissioned allowlists, essentially gatekeeping layers that let deployers restrict who can access their markets. Bitnomial will operate within this framework, with the first market deployments running on Hyperliquid’s public blockchain while falling under Bitnomial’s regulatory umbrella.

Why this matters for US crypto trading

Discussions between Payward and Hyperliquid were reported as early as August 31, 2026, with a formal proposal submitted to the CFTC that is still pending approval. The September 16 announcement signals both parties are confident enough in the regulatory trajectory to go public, even before final sign-off.

The competitive landscape shifts

The HIP-3 framework has already spawned more than just crypto derivatives. Builders have used it to create tokenized equities and other asset classes, turning Hyperliquid into a broader financial infrastructure layer. HIP-3* extends that flexibility to regulated deployments, which opens the door to asset types that require compliance frameworks by default.

For Payward, which operates the Kraken exchange, the move represents a strategic expansion into on-chain infrastructure rather than just centralized exchange operations.

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