Hyperliquid is preparing for its long-awaited entry into the U.S. market, and it appears that the Kraken exchange will be a key partner in this process. Negotiations between Hyperliquid Labs and Payward — Kraken's parent company — have already moved into the practical phase. This is not about buying a ready-made business with a license, but rather a more flexible arrangement that would avoid multi-billion-dollar costs.
How it will work
The entire structure revolves around Bitnomial — a derivatives platform and clearing organization owned by Payward. It will serve as the bridge for American traders. Through Bitnomial, U.S.-registered users will gain access to trading a portion of perpetual contracts (perpetuals) based on Hyperliquid. It is important to understand: this is not about full access to the entire offshore order book. The range of instruments will be limited, and mandatory identity verification (KYC) will be required to operate.
The scheme of leasing rather than buying a license looks quite logical. Payward closed the deal to acquire Bitnomial on May 1 for $550 million, obtaining three CFTC licenses at once. For comparison, Polymarket's licensed exchange cost $112 million. For Hyperliquid, this approach is significantly cheaper, but the main point here is not savings. The key factor is control: both the licensed exchange and the clients are managed by Payward, not Hyperliquid.
What this means for traders and HYPE
American users should not expect instant access to Hyperliquid's proprietary application — it will still not be available. The new scheme also does not affect exotic markets, such as commodities or pre-IPO companies. Leverage will also be reduced compared to current offshore conditions. For those already trading on the platform, nothing will change.
The absence of American traders, by the way, did not prevent the HYPE token from reaching an all-time high of $86.71 back on August 27. The protocol directs 99% of trading fees toward buying back HYPE, and since December 2024, tokens worth $1.3 billion have been removed from the market. Whether volume through Bitnomial will reach these figures is a big question. Everything will depend on the terms of the agreement: a fixed license fee or a share of revenue from U.S. trading offers completely different prospects for token holders.
The HYPE price has already reacted to the news: on August 31, it rose to $83.57, gaining 7.1% over the week. An additional catalyst was Donald Trump's statements that regulators are preparing the ground for Hyperliquid's entry into the U.S. market. However, filing documents with the CFTC is only the first step, and final approval is still far off. The market, as always, is getting ahead of itself, but fundamentally this news is more of a positive signal for long-term liquidity growth than an immediate driver for explosive price movement.