Grayscale summarized its view:
“A regulated U.S. path could expand Hyperliquid’s market, validate its infrastructure, increase fee revenue, and potentially bolster the value of $HYPE, the protocol’s native token.”
How Payward Plans to Operate the Markets
U.S. customers would trade on Hyperliquid’s public blockchain, where an onchain order book would match and record transactions. Under Payward’s Sept. 16 plan, its Commodity Futures Trading Commission-regulated Bitnomial exchange would create and administer the markets. Bitnomial’s clearinghouse would clear and settle the contracts, while Ninjatrader Clearing would carry customer accounts.
Access would be restricted to customers onboarded by Ninjatrader and included on allowlists maintained by Ninjatrader and Bitnomial. Those controls would let Payward use Hyperliquid’s trading infrastructure while its subsidiaries handle the proposed U.S. market’s regulated functions. The planned onchain arrangement remains subject to regulatory approval.
Payward’s Bitnomial acquisition agreement preceded the proposal. The company announced the deal in April as part of its U.S. derivatives expansion. Payward has since begun offering eligible U.S. customers perpetual futures through Bitnomial, making the Hyperliquid proposal a potential expansion of its trading infrastructure.
What Trading Activity Could Mean for $HYPE
Hyperliquid averaged approximately $9 billion in open interest during the second quarter, up 54% from a year earlier, according to Grayscale. Open interest measures the value of outstanding derivatives positions. The firm also noted that Hyperliquid supports markets tied to equities and commodities alongside crypto assets, broadening the types of contracts traders can use.
Other exchanges have already drawn on Hyperliquid’s infrastructure. Crypto exchange VALR, for example, integrated Hyperliquid for more than 200 perpetual markets. That arrangement provides an example of an exchange offering customers access to markets powered by the protocol, though Payward’s proposed U.S. structure would carry its own access and regulatory requirements.
Grayscale’s $HYPE thesis rests on the connection between trading fees and token purchases: Hyperliquid directs nearly all revenue from trading fees toward buying $HYPE. The mechanics of onchain perpetual trading also expose traders to leverage and liquidation risk. For the proposed U.S. markets, regulatory approval and the fees paid to Hyperliquid will determine whether the expansion contributes to that token purchase mechanism.
$HYPE continues to rise, hitting a new all-time high price of nearly $98 per coin on Tuesday before cooling off alongside the broader crypto market.
