Hyperliquid Eyes US Market Entry

Hyperliquid, a decentralized trading platform known for onchain perpetual futures, is seeking access to the United States, one of the world’s largest but most tightly regulated derivatives markets. Working through Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, could give Hyperliquid an established compliance and operating framework as it attempts to offer perpetual contracts to US traders.

Hyperliquid is in talks with Payward on a structure for bringing crypto perpetuals to the US, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Payward has submitted the proposed business framework to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the plan remains subject to regulatory approval. The companies have not disclosed financial terms, a launch date or the final scope of the arrangement.

Hyperliquid is a decentralized exchange focused on on-chain perpetual futures trading. Its native token, HYPE, serves both as a governance token for the ecosystem and as a vehicle for capturing its value. Futures open interest reflects the amount of capital committed to the market, and a rapid increase typically signals greater participation by large traders and institutions while also amplifying leveraged liquidation risks. HYPE’s recent price performance has therefore become an important gauge of demand for on-chain derivatives.

HYPE has gained 44% over the past five days. It pulled back by about 22% at one point after reaching an all-time high, indicating emerging profit-taking pressure at elevated levels. However, open interest in Hyperliquid futures has surpassed $3 billion after rising 32% over the past week. Derivatives capital has yet to retreat significantly, and the market is watching whether spot buying can take over and propel the token toward another test of $80.

Citrini Research, whose February 2026 report betting against the AI boom triggered a cross-market selloff, has turned its attention to decentralized perpetual futures exchange Hyperliquid. Its investment thesis holds that HYPE is not priced solely on hype: trading fees generate cash flow, while buybacks link trading volume to demand for the token.

On June 8, 2026, Citrini Research identified Hyperliquid and HYPE as compelling investments. The platform generates about $1.06 billion in annualized fees and recorded roughly $220 billion in perpetual futures trading volume over the past 30 days. More than 90% of fees flow into the Assistance Fund, which has repurchased over $2 billion worth of HYPE since launching in January 2025.

Hyperliquid is a decentralized perpetual-futures exchange that uses an onchain order book. HIP-3 allows builders to launch their own markets after staking 500,000 HYPE, bringing traditional assets such as oil, precious metals and US stocks into round-the-clock trading. The development shows onchain markets expanding beyond cryptocurrencies into real-world assets and taking on a price-discovery role while traditional markets are closed.

Open interest in Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 markets reached a record $1.2 billion on March 10, 2026. Open interest in XYZ100-USDC and CL-USDC stood at $213 million and $169.8 million, respectively, while the latter recorded $1.62 billion in 24-hour trading volume. TD Securities said on June 2 that oil-contract volume had risen from $25 million to more than $550 million and reflected about 80% of the subsequent price move before CME opened.

Hyperliquid began as an onchain venue for crypto perpetual futures. Through HIP-3, it now allows builders to launch round-the-clock markets for equities, commodities, foreign exchange and Pre-IPO assets, while HIP-4 marks its entry into event prediction. The strategy brings crypto assets, RWAs and outcome contracts under a single account, expanding its competitive field from CME Group to Kalshi and Polymarket.

HIP-4 went live on May 2, 2026, followed on May 25 by offchain event markets settled by validators. The first markets covered May's year-on-year CPI rate and the Federal Reserve's June interest-rate decision. FalconX said the 21Shares and Bitwise HYPE spot ETFs recorded combined net inflows of $53 million over several days. Hyperliquid's USDC partnership with Coinbase and Circle is estimated to generate $160 million in annual revenue.

Hyperliquid is a decentralized trading platform that has emerged over the past three years, starting with non-expiring cryptocurrency perpetual contracts. Its self-custody model and onchain transparency target a market previously dominated by centralized exchanges such as Binance and Bybit. Through HIP-3 and HIP-4, it has expanded into tokenized stocks, commodities and prediction markets. Its ability to shift trading onto always-on blockchains could determine whether DeFi can challenge traditional exchanges and derivatives infrastructure.

Grayscale said on May 30, 2026, that Hyperliquid processed about $2.9 trillion in perpetual-contract trading volume and generated roughly $800 million in revenue in 2025, with open interest of about $7 billion. Average daily cryptocurrency perpetual-contract volume in 2026 is about $200 billion. The report said Hyperliquid could become a financial services juggernaut if it expands and benefits from a more open regulatory environment, although U.S. users remain blocked.

On March 16, 2026, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on prediction markets, RIN 3038-AF65, seeking input on market oversight and the public-interest boundaries governing event contracts. The Hyperliquid Policy Center was concerned that rules based on assumptions about centralized exchanges could leave non-custodial onchain markets without a lawful path to operate.

On April 30, 2026, the consultation deadline, HPC submitted a 15-page comment letter, CFTC No. 115408. It called for flexible, function-based rules, a clear legal pathway for U.S. users to participate in decentralized prediction markets and support for U.S. onchain financial innovation. The letter did not discuss any investment amount; its policy objective was to provide regulatory certainty for Hyperliquid and HIP-4 outcome markets.