Kraken perpetual futures could become available to eligible US customers under a plan by parent company Payward to operate regulated markets on Hyperliquid. The proposal, announced by the blockchain protocol on October 26, 2026, still requires regulatory approval, and no launch date has been announced.

Key Takeaways

  • Payward aims to become the first CFTC-regulated operator to deploy perpetual futures markets using Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 infrastructure.
  • Bitnomial would administer and clear the markets, while NinjaTrader Clearing would maintain customer accounts.
  • A permissioning feature is on testnet and would need a network upgrade to reach mainnet.

How Kraken perpetual futures would work

Under the proposal, Bitnomial would create and administer the markets and handle clearing and settlement. Bitnomial operates a derivatives exchange and clearing organization regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. NinjaTrader Clearing, a CFTC-registered futures commission merchant, would maintain customer accounts.

Hyperliquid would supply the blockchain technology, including its onchain order book and transaction execution system. Customers would first complete onboarding through NinjaTrader Clearing, and eligible accounts would need to be on lists of approved blockchain addresses maintained by the regulated entities.

Permissioned trading remains in testing

The proposed address lists are part of HIP-3*, an optional permissioning mechanism that would let market operators restrict who can place orders. Hyperliquid said the feature would not change existing HIP-3 markets.

The feature is available on testnet, but its technical specifications could change after developer feedback. A future network upgrade would be needed to make it available on mainnet.

The underlying HIP-3 framework launched on mainnet in October 2025 and lets independent developers and businesses deploy perpetual futures markets. Deployers must stake at least 500,000 HYPE tokens.

A regulated derivatives push

Perpetual futures are derivatives that can provide leveraged exposure to an asset without a fixed expiration date. Payward’s proposal builds on its September 16, 2026 plan for regulated onchain perpetual futures for US customers and follows its acquisition of Bitnomial in May 2026. Payward also controls NinjaTrader.

The companies have not identified the contracts they would offer first or said whether particular leverage limits would apply. The CFTC has not announced approval of the proposed deployment.

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