Payward plans to let U.S. customers trade perpetual futures on Hyperliquid through a regulated clearinghouse. The move puts a decentralized exchange’s perpetual contracts under U.S. oversight.
The plan rests on Payward’s $550 million purchase of Bitnomial. That deal gives Payward a regulated exchange arm. NinjaTrader Clearing, which Payward bought for $1.5 billion in 2025, would hold customer accounts.
Here is how the setup works:
- A customer opens a futures account with Payward’s registered broker.
- The customer trades new perpetual futures contracts on Hyperliquid.
- The trades are settled through NinjaTrader Clearing, which already handles the crypto perpetual contracts Payward offers U.S. customers today.
Bitnomial’s Regulated Role
Bitnomial operates under CFTC regulation. That makes it a registered exchange in the eyes of U.S. authorities. Payward says the new contracts would operate under Bitnomial Exchange.
NinjaTrader Clearing carries approved client accounts. Payward describes it as “the same clearinghouse that already supports the crypto perpetual contracts Payward offers U.S. clients today.”
What Is Missing From the Announcement
Payward has not given a launch date, fees or trading volume numbers. The company said it will start with Hyperliquid HIP-3 markets.
How Perpetual Futures Got Here
Perpetual futures first appeared in 2016. They have traded outside U.S. regulated markets ever since.
The Numbers Behind the Plan
In 2025, more than $85 trillion changed hands worldwide in perpetuals, according to CoinGecko’s 2026 State of Crypto Perpetuals Report. Hyperliquid’s DEX settles roughly 9% of all open perp positions globally.
Bitnomial’s revenue fell 43% in third-quarter 2025 to about $202 million in second-quarter 2026, per DefiLlama data.
Who Protects Whom
Payward gains a regulated offering. Hyperliquid gains a regulated operator. Neither side has said who pays whom.
The arrangement puts a decentralized exchange’s perpetual contracts under U.S. oversight. That is the stated goal. Whether it delivers on that promise depends on execution, regulation and market reception.
| Party | Role | What Is Known |
|---|---|---|
| Payward | Plans the offering | $550 million Bitnomial purchase, $1.5 billion NinjaTrader Clearing purchase |
| Bitnomial | Regulated exchange | Operates under CFTC regulation |
| NinjaTrader Clearing | Clears trades | Already holds crypto perpetual accounts for Payward |
| Hyperliquid | Hosts the markets | DEX settles roughly 9% of global open perp positions |
The Skeptical Reading
The arrangement puts a decentralized exchange’s perpetual contracts under U.S. oversight. That is the stated goal. Whether it delivers on that promise depends on execution, regulation and market reception.
The absence of fees, volumes and a timeline raises questions about how this actually works.
What Happens Next
Hyperliquid was contacted for comment but had not responded by publication time. Payward has not disclosed a fee schedule, expected trading volumes, details of any economic arrangement with Hyperliquid or a planned launch date.
The company said it will start with Hyperliquid HIP-3 markets. That is the extent of what Payward has committed to publicly.
The Bottom Line
Payward has the capital, the exchange and the clearinghouse. What it does not have is a public timetable or a price list.
The market will watch for those details. Until then, the plan remains a proposal with a lot of moving parts and no clear path to profitability.
Jon Pham, head of U.S. derivatives at Payward, described the arrangement in plain terms. He said a U.S. client would open a futures account with Payward’s registered broker and trade new perpetual futures contracts on Hyperliquid, cleared through the same clearinghouse that already supports the crypto perpetual contracts Payward offers U.S. clients today.
That description captures the core of the plan. It also leaves open the question of who pays whom.
Payward has built a machine with three parts. Bitnomial brings regulation. NinjaTrader Clearing brings clearing. Hyperliquid brings the markets. The company has not explained how those parts fit together financially.
The arrangement puts a decentralized exchange’s perpetual contracts under U.S. oversight. That is the stated goal. Whether it delivers on that promise depends on execution, regulation and market reception.
Payward has the pieces. It has not shown how they add up.
Who is protecting what
The practical effect of the Payward arrangement is simple: a decentralized exchange’s perpetual contracts sit under U.S. oversight. The stated goal is regulation. The known cost is the combined $2.05 billion Payward spent on Bitnomial and NinjaTrader Clearing.
The paper suspects Payward is protecting its revenue stream. A regulated offering gives Payward a U.S. license to sell foreign perpetuals without exposing its customers to the risks of an unregulated market. The clearinghouse structure, with NinjaTrader holding customer accounts, gives Payward a regulated operator while keeping the underlying exchange’s operations separate.
The paper also suspects Hyperliquid is protecting its position. A regulated operator brings legitimacy and access to U.S. customers, which Hyperliquid would otherwise lack. The arrangement lets Hyperliquid trade its perpetuals in a market where they were previously excluded.
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