Payward Hyperliquid perps Set for First CFTC-Regulated HIP-3 Deployment Through Bitnomial

Hyperliquid confirmed on October 26, 2026 that Payward, the parent company of Kraken, will become the first operator to launch CFTC-regulated perpetual futures through its HIP-3 permissioned market framework. The deployment will use Bitnomial Exchange as the designated contract market and Bitnomial Clearinghouse as the derivatives clearing organization.

Payward first disclosed the plan on September 16, 2026. The arrangement remains subject to final CFTC review and approval, with no launch date or specific contract list released. Existing Hyperliquid markets will continue unchanged.

Market structure and operational details

Bitnomial Exchange will create, own and administer the new HIP-3 markets on Hyperliquid’s public blockchain. Bitnomial Clearinghouse will handle clearing and settlement. NinjaTrader Clearing, another Payward subsidiary and a CFTC-registered futures commission merchant, will carry client accounts. Trading access will be limited to users who complete onboarding with NinjaTrader and appear on both NinjaTrader and Bitnomial allowlists.

Order-book matching and records will occur onchain. The contracts will be newly created by Payward rather than extensions of existing Hyperliquid listings. HIP-3 introduces optional onchain allowlists that enable permissioned access while keeping the underlying blockchain public. Testnet functionality for HIP-3 is already live.

Payward completed its acquisition of Bitnomial on May 1, 2026 for up to $550 million in cash and stock. The purchase gave the firm a complete CFTC-licensed derivatives stack covering designated contract market, derivatives clearing organization and futures commission merchant licenses.

Regulatory path and market context

CFTC approval is still required before any contracts can trade. Hyperliquid has stated that contract specifications remain preliminary and open to regulatory feedback. No fees, margin requirements or product rollout schedule have been published.

As of late October 2026, HIP-3 markets accounted for 26 to 27 percent of Hyperliquid volume, representing roughly $64.7 billion over the prior 30 days. Open interest across HIP-3 markets exceeded $3.9 billion, with one deployer holding the large majority of that share. More than 300 markets currently operate across all HIP-3 deployers.

Payward already offers its own CFTC-regulated perpetual futures through the Bitnomial platform. The planned HIP-3 deployment would run as a separate book alongside those existing contracts.