Kraken Parent Payward Plans Hyperliquid Perpetuals for U.S. Clients

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.

Decentralized exchange Hyperliquid is challenging traditional Wall Street finance with onchain perpetual contracts. The platform aims to remove trading restrictions on traditional assets as it expands beyond cryptocurrencies into derivatives tied to stocks, commodities and other conventional financial instruments. The technology enables round-the-clock trading while sharply lowering barriers to entry and intermediary costs, making it strategically important to the integration of onchain finance into global capital markets and their broader transformation.

According to a report published by crypto venture capital firm Pantera Capital in July 2026, Hyperliquid’s potential daily notional trading volume could reach $10 trillion. The report estimated that a low-single-digit share of traditional financial markets could increase the platform’s annual revenue fivefold, from the current $800 million to $3.7 billion. Regulatory risk remains the biggest uncertainty, however, and Hyperliquid could face fierce competition from established players such as Intercontinental Exchange, or ICE.

Perpetual futures have no expiry date and use funding rates to keep contract prices close to spot prices. They are a mainstay of the global crypto derivatives market, which recorded more than $60 trillion in trading volume in 2025. Kraken parent Payward announced on April 17, 2026, that it would acquire Bitnomial for up to $550 million, gaining its CFTC-licensed exchange, clearinghouse and futures commission merchant to establish a regulated foundation for bringing the products back to the United States.

Kraken initially said in late May 2026 that it would launch the contracts within 30 days. On June 15, it formally made them available to eligible U.S. clients through Kraken Pro, with the contracts listed on Bitnomial. The initial offering covers nine assets: BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, ADA, LINK, DOGE, LTC and AVAX. Trading is integrated with spot, margin and CME futures in a single interface.

Payward-owned Kraken is a major global cryptocurrency exchange, while Franklin Templeton is a traditional asset manager. Their partnership centers on bringing fund yields, collateral and trading services onto blockchains, allowing institutional investors to use tokenized assets within a compliant framework. The deal also reflects Wall Street’s accelerating push into asset tokenization.

As of July 20, 2026, Payward and Franklin Templeton had announced plans to jointly develop tokenized yield products, blockchain-based funds and institutional crypto market services. Kraken also plans to accept the BENJI tokenized money market fund as collateral. The companies have not disclosed the value of the partnership, a specific launch date or expected yields.

Bitnomial is a U.S. crypto-native derivatives exchange with three types of CFTC authorization: futures commission merchant, designated contract market and derivatives clearing organization. The acquisition allows Payward to integrate trading, brokerage and clearing, reducing its reliance on third-party platforms and expanding Kraken's presence in regulated U.S. markets.

Payward announced the acquisition agreement on April 17, 2026, and completed the transaction on May 1. It paid up to $550 million in cash and stock, with Payward equity valued at $20 billion for the deal. The company plans to launch spot margin services on Kraken and NinjaTrader first, followed by perpetual contracts and options.

xStocks, adopted by Kraken, is a framework for tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs backed 1:1 by the underlying assets and tradable around the clock onchain. The addition of perpetual futures allows non-U.S. investors to go long, short or hedge without being constrained by U.S. stock-market hours or contract expiry dates. However, high leverage also magnifies the risk of margin calls and liquidation.

On Feb. 24, 2026, Kraken launched its first 10 xStocks perpetual contracts on its regulated derivatives platform. The lineup included NVDAx, AAPLx, TSLAx, SPYx, QQQx and GLDx and was made available for 24/7 trading with leverage of up to 20 times to eligible non-U.S. clients in more than 110 countries. On July 3, Kraken also began accepting the 10 assets as collateral for futures or margin trading, applying haircuts of 10%–30% and individual caps ranging from $100,000 to $1 million.