Hyperliquid Labs is in advanced talks to use Kraken's Bitnomial for US entry, but US traders get limited access and HYPE holders face uncertainty.
Hyperliquid Labs is holding advanced discussions with Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, about a path into the US market, according to Bloomberg on Monday. The approach would avoid acquiring a licensed exchange outright.
Bitnomial, a derivatives exchange and clearinghouse regulated in the US and owned by Payward, would enable registered US traders to access a limited set of crypto perpetual futures linked to Hyperliquid. The proposal has already been submitted to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) by Payward.
The offering would be less than what headlines imply, because Hyperliquid's own application remains inaccessible to US users due to geo-blocking, and the reported arrangement does not alter that.
US traders who are registered would execute trades on Bitnomial subject to American regulations, including identity verification and a restricted selection. Bloomberg reported that only a portion of crypto perpetual futures would be available, not the complete offshore book.
Markets for exotic assets created via Hyperliquid's third-party infrastructure, such as commodities and pre-IPO instruments, are not included in the reported proposal. Similarly, the leverage currently available on the offshore venue is excluded.
For those who already trade on the offshore platform, there is no change.
Payward completed its acquisition of Bitnomial on May 1, paying $550 million and obtaining three CFTC licenses in the process. In contrast, prediction market Polymarket spent $112 million to purchase its own licensed venue.
Renting the infrastructure costs Hyperliquid much less initially. The compromise is control, since Payward would retain ownership of the regulated venue and the customer relationships.
Exclusion from the US market has not obviously hurt HYPE token holders. The token reached an all-time high of $86.71 on August 27, despite having no registered US traders on the platform.
Hyperliquid channels 99% of its protocol and trading fees into buying back HYPE tokens, a mechanism that has removed $1.3 billion worth of tokens from circulation since December 2024. It has not been specified whether volumes settled on Bitnomial would feed into that buyback.
That distinction is more significant than the headline figure suggests. A fixed licensing fee versus a percentage of US trading revenue would yield vastly different results for the token.
On Monday, HYPE traded at $83.57, a 7.1% increase over the week, following President Donald Trump's statement on August 19 that regulators were seeking to bring Hyperliquid to US shores. A submission to the CFTC does not constitute approval, and neither company provided comment.
Share to
Disclaimer: this article comes from third-party media and is provided for reference only. It does not constitute investment advice. Crypto and other financial products carry significant price volatility risk, so please make your own decisions carefully.
Kalshi prematurely settled a Michigan vs. Western Michigan market, paying $18.6M to the wrong side before a last-second touchdown, then reversed the payouts.
Poland's third attempt to override the president's crypto law veto fell short, keeping the country as the EU's only gap in MiCA regulation.
The White House has screened candidates for all four vacant CFTC seats, but crypto's desired outcome is not guaranteed.
BitMEX founder Ben Delo has donated another £4 million to the UK's Reform Party, bringing his total to £8 million. The party also faces a scandal over illegal…