Overview
- Payward has announced plans to become the first CFTC‑regulated deployer on Hyperliquid’s HIP‑3* framework to offer permissioned on‑chain perpetual futures to U.S. clients, but the move is conditional on formal CFTC approval.
- Under the plan Bitnomial, which Payward acquired in May, would create, own and administer markets and clear contracts while NinjaTrader Clearing would carry client accounts; trade matching would run on Hyperliquid’s public on‑chain order book.
- Hyperliquid’s HIP‑3* is on testnet and introduces optional on‑chain allowlists that let a regulated deployer gate who can trade without changing mainnet HIP‑3 markets, but the specification and operational details can still change and no launch date or contract list has been disclosed.
- HIP‑3 requires builders to stake 500,000 HYPE to run markets and current activity is highly concentrated, with one builder (trade.xyz) accounting for roughly 97–98% of HIP‑3 volume and open interest, creating liquidity and counterparty concentration risks for a regulated deployer.
- The HYPE token has shown recent price weakness near a roughly $75 support level, and the token’s price, staking economics and concentrated flow are flagged as near‑term market and exposure risks for the proposed on‑chain perpetuals gateway.