Hyperliquid Labs is reportedly in advanced talks with Payward, the parent company of Kraken, on a structure that could open a narrow path into the US market without acquiring a regulated exchange outright. According to Bloomberg, the proposal would allow registered American traders to access a subset of crypto perpetual futures linked to Hyperliquid through Bitnomial, Payward’s CFTC-regulated derivatives exchange and clearinghouse.

The reported plan has already been submitted to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission. But the arrangement, as described, would not bring Hyperliquid’s own offshore app into the US, and it would not give American users the same product set currently available outside the country.

A narrower US offering than the headline implies

Under the reported structure, Hyperliquid’s platform would remain geoblocked for US users. American traders would instead access eligible products through Bitnomial and under US regulatory requirements, including identity checks.

The offering described is limited to a subset of crypto perpetual futures tied to Hyperliquid, not the full offshore order book. The report also indicates that more unusual markets built through Hyperliquid’s third-party framework, including commodities and pre-IPO names, are not part of the proposal.

The leverage available on the offshore venue today is also outside the reported US plan. For traders already using Hyperliquid offshore, the arrangement would not alter their existing access.

Why Hyperliquid may prefer this route

The structure would let Hyperliquid enter the US market without buying a licensed operator itself. That contrasts with other approaches seen in the sector, where firms have sought direct control of regulated venues through acquisitions.

Payward completed its purchase of Bitnomial on May 1 in a $550 million transaction that brought with it three CFTC licenses. By comparison, prediction market Polymarket paid $112 million for a licensed venue of its own. Using Bitnomial rather than purchasing a venue could reduce Hyperliquid’s upfront cost, though the tradeoff is less control over the regulated platform and the customer relationship.

What remains unclear for HYPE holders

The report also leaves open an important question for Hyperliquid’s token economics. Hyperliquid directs 99% of protocol and trading fees toward repurchasing HYPE, a mechanism that has removed $1.3 billion worth of supply since December 2024.

It has not been described whether any volume cleared on Bitnomial would feed into that buyback system. That distinction could be significant, because a simple licensing arrangement and a revenue-sharing model would have different implications for HYPE.

So far, exclusion from the US market has not obviously weighed on the token’s performance. HYPE reached an all-time high of $86.71 on Aug. 27. On Monday, it was at $83.57, up 7.1% over the previous week, after President Donald Trump said on Aug. 19 that regulators were working to bring Hyperliquid onshore.

The next step is regulatory review

For now, the proposal is only a filing and not an approval. Submission to the CFTC does not mean the structure has been cleared, and key details about how the arrangement would work in practice have not been made public.

Both companies declined to comment, according to the report. Until regulators respond and the parties disclose more, the confirmed picture is limited: any US expansion under discussion would run through Bitnomial, apply only to registered users, and offer a narrower set of products than Hyperliquid’s offshore venue.

Source: beincrypto.com