Grayscale Backs Payward's Hyperliquid (HYPE) US Perp Plan Citing $9B Open Interest

Grayscale Endorses the Onshore Plan

Grayscale has endorsed Kraken parent Payward's blueprint to bring Hyperliquid (HYPE)-based perpetual futures to US traders, assessing the proposal as a credible path to widen the protocol's American market access. Payward disclosed the plan on Sept. 16; the asset manager's research desk followed on Sept. 21 with a positive read. Per Payward's official announcement, the structure leans on HIP-3, the protocol's permissioned-market deployment feature: Hyperliquid's public blockchain and onchain order book match and record trades, while Payward's US-regulated subsidiaries run the market-facing functions. CFTC-supervised exchange Bitnomial would create and operate the venues, Bitnomial's clearinghouse would clear and settle contracts, and Ninjatrader Clearing would manage customer accounts. Access would be tightly controlled: only accounts that complete Ninjatrader's customer registration and appear on allowlists kept by both Ninjatrader and Bitnomial can participate. This is not a wholesale opening of Hyperliquid's existing markets to American users, but a separate market built inside a regulatory perimeter — background in our Hyperliquid coverage. The design keeps Hyperliquid's execution engine at the center while assigning every regulated function — market operation, clearing, settlement, account custody — to a supervised US entity. Grayscale head of research Zach Pandl called the plan a potential turning point for Hyperliquid's US accessibility, while stressing two preconditions: regulatory approval, and trading that actually generates protocol fees. The first permissioned markets are already running on testnet, though the onchain arrangement still awaits regulator sign-off. Perpetual futures — contracts that track an underlying asset's price with no fixed expiry — are the core product of crypto's derivatives boom, and Hyperliquid built its franchise on futures trading. Payward announced its agreement to acquire Bitnomial in April and already serves eligible US customers with perpetuals through that CFTC-regulated exchange; the Hyperliquid proposal adds an onchain execution path on top of the existing service. For readers sizing up the venue, our step-by-step guide explains how to trade on Hyperliquid.

The HYPE Fee Flywheel

The reason the blueprint matters for the token is a simple fee loop. Grayscale's analysis notes that Hyperliquid directs nearly all of its trading-fee revenue toward purchasing HYPE, so growth in protocol fees mechanically enlarges demand for the token. Research chief Zach Pandl framed the thesis in the report: a US venue that runs on Hyperliquid infrastructure and pays protocol fees “would reinforce this flywheel effect.” He was careful to cast the HYPE impact as an investment view, not a settled outcome — more American users guarantee nothing unless their trades actually route fees to the protocol. Grayscale's summary holds that a regulated US pathway could expand Hyperliquid's market size, validate its infrastructure, lift fee income, and potentially raise the value of its native token HYPE. The protocol's existing base supports the thesis. Average open interest — the value of unsettled derivative positions — ran near $9 billion in the second quarter, up 54% year over year according to the research report. Hyperliquid also hosts markets tied to equities and commodities alongside crypto assets, widening the contract menu available to traders. Adoption is spreading beyond the home venue as well: exchange VALR has plugged Hyperliquid into more than 200 perpetual markets, a template for how third parties tap the protocol's engine, though Payward's US architecture would carry its own access and compliance requirements. Payward's route to Bitnomial predates this proposal — the April acquisition agreement was pitched as part of a US derivatives expansion — and the company has since begun offering perpetuals to qualifying American customers through Bitnomial. The Hyperliquid buildout would extend that infrastructure, and if approved it would be the first time the onchain venue anchors a fully CFTC-supervised US market. Execution runs on the same public Web3 stack the protocol has operated since launch. Readers tracking the market in real time can follow live spot and futures prices on Bitget.

Approval Is the Swing Factor

Our read: Grayscale's endorsement and Payward's buildout converge on one gate — regulatory approval plus fee attribution. If the CFTC-supervised structure goes live and routes fees to the protocol, US order flow could materially enlarge the HYPE buyback treasury; if fees settle elsewhere, the token gains little beyond validation. Commercial momentum is already visible in the ledger: the protocol topped the 2026 revenue ranking with $429 million through Sept. 15. Price has tracked that curve: HYPE topped $90 for the first time this month, a push to $94.50 brought it to the edge of record territory, and it printed an all-time high near $98 on Sept. 22. COINOTAG's live spot data shows HYPE down 4.9% in the past 24 hours.