Payward plans Hyperliquid perpetual futures for US clients

Payward, Kraken's parent company, says it intends to bring onchain perpetual futures to US clients through permissioned markets on Hyperliquid. The first deployment would use Hyperliquid's HIP-3 framework and remains subject to regulatory approval.

The planned markets would have defined regulated operators. Bitnomial Exchange and Bitnomial Clearinghouse would create and administer the markets, then clear and settle the contracts. NinjaTrader Clearing would carry the client accounts. All three are Payward entities.

Access would not be open to every wallet or existing Kraken account. Clients would need to open a futures account through NinjaTrader and appear on both NinjaTrader's and Bitnomial's allowlists before they could trade.

Orders would be matched and recorded on Hyperliquid's public blockchain. This would give the contracts an onchain order book while keeping account access, clearing and settlement within Payward's regulated US derivatives structure.

The announcement is a plan, not a launch notice. Payward has not provided a launch date, initial contract list, fee schedule, collateral rules or margin requirements. It also does not say that the contracts will be available directly inside Kraken Pro.

For Kraken users, the connection is Payward's shared infrastructure. The proposed markets would be operated through Bitnomial and NinjaTrader rather than presented as a standard Kraken spot or derivatives listing. Eligibility and final product terms will depend on regulatory approval and later announcements.

Sources: Payward press release, Payward announcement on X.