Kraken Teams Up with Hyperliquid! First CFTC-Regulated HIP-3 Market in the Works, with an Onchain Whitelist

Decentralized derivatives trading platform Hyperliquid takes another major step into the U.S. market!
On October 27, Hyperliquid officially confirmed that Kraken parent company Payward plans to become the first operator to deploy a perpetuals market under its HIP-3* framework through a CFTC-regulated entity. Payward subsidiary Bitnomial will handle trading, clearing, and settlement, while NinjaTrader Clearing will manage customer accounts, allowing eligible U.S. investors to trade onchain perpetual futures through regulated channels. However, the relevant features are still in testing, and an official launch remains subject to regulatory approval.
Image source: X/@Hyperliquid
Hyperliquid officially confirms partnership; Kraken parent company to oversee compliant market deployment
Payward announced plans to enter Hyperliquid on September 16; the latest development is Hyperliquid's official confirmation of the partnership structure and announcement that HIP-3* will support permissioned perpetual markets.
According to Payward's official announcement, its subsidiary Bitnomial holds CFTC-regulated Designated Contract Market (DCM) and Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO) status, while NinjaTrader Clearing is a registered Futures Commission Merchant (FCM). In the future, U.S. clients will need to open accounts through regulated entities and meet the eligibility requirements set by Bitnomial and NinjaTrader to trade the relevant contracts.
The biggest breakthrough of this model is that it allows traditional licensed financial institutions to execute and record trades using decentralized blockchain technology, without having to turn the entire Hyperliquid protocol into a traditional centralized exchange.
HIP-3* introduces onchain allowlists, as DeFi begins to align with U.S. regulations
Hyperliquid's existing HIP-3 mechanism allows third parties to deploy their own perpetual markets, with trading instruments that can include cryptocurrencies, stocks, commodities, and other assets.
The newly proposed “HIP-3*” adds an optional permissioned-market feature. Deployers can use an onchain allowlist to restrict which accounts can participate in trading, meeting the access requirements of specific markets.
Notably, this does not mean Hyperliquid's existing open markets will all be converted to require identity verification. The new feature is optional, and existing markets will remain unaffected. This structure also clearly separates regulatory responsibilities: Hyperliquid provides the onchain infrastructure, while Bitnomial is responsible for market operations, trade clearing, and related regulatory obligations. However, whether the deployment structure meets all U.S. requirements for market surveillance, customer assets, and trading risks remains subject to regulatory review.
In terms of market scale, Hyperliquid is already one of the leading onchain derivatives trading platforms.
According to a DeFiLlama snapshot queried on October 27, Hyperliquid's perpetual markets recorded approximately $204.7 billion in trading volume over the past 30 days, with open interest (OI) of approximately $7.55 billion. The protocol as a whole generated approximately $79.65 million in fees and $63.49 million in revenue over the past 30 days. Compared with its all-time high of $97.96 in September this year, HYPE is still down approximately 21%, indicating that news of the regulatory partnership is not yet enough to confirm that the price has resumed an uptrend.
Demand for the HYPE token may increase, but regulatory approval remains the biggest uncertainty
Hyperliquid's HIP-3 market deployment mechanism requires deployers to stake HYPE. Therefore, if more institutions use this structure in the future, it could theoretically increase demand for HYPE.
However, the number of markets Payward will ultimately deploy, product scale, expected trading volume, and exact HYPE staking arrangements have not yet been announced. The partnership announcement cannot be directly translated into an increase in token demand.
Another important risk is market liquidity. According to Payward's September announcement, approximately 98% of open interest in HIP-3 markets at the time was concentrated with a single deployer, indicating that market competition and liquidity distribution remain highly concentrated.
For Hyperliquid, the true significance of this partnership is not simply adding a major exchange partner; it is an attempt to establish a replicable framework that allows regulated financial institutions to operate derivatives markets directly using a public blockchain.
If ultimately approved, Hyperliquid could evolve from a decentralized perpetual trading platform primarily serving crypto traders into onchain trading infrastructure for traditional financial institutions. But until approval is formally granted and products are launched, this remains a potential direction for market development, not realized revenue growth.
This article is reproduced with permission from: (Blockcast)
Original headline: (Kraken parent company joins forces with Hyperliquid! First CFTC-regulated HIP-3 market in preparation, with HYPE targeting U.S. perpetual markets)
Original author: Anfei
The article “Kraken joins forces with Hyperliquid! First CFTC-regulated HIP-3 market in preparation, with onchain allowlists to be introduced” was first published by “Crypto City”