Hyperliquid Token Skyrockets After Payward Talks Spark Compliant US Entry

Hyperliquid's native token HYPE has surged past $83 after reports emerged of talks between Hyperliquid and Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, about bringing Hyperliquid's products to the US market.

The price action kicked into gear after President Donald Trump's comments on August 19-20 that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission was taking steps to onboard Hyperliquid in a compliant manner. This alone sent HYPE up roughly 19-20% in a single session, with the token hitting intraday highs around $77.55 on August 21 before continuing its climb above $83.

Payward acquired Bitnomial, a CFTC-licensed exchange, giving it the derivatives licensing infrastructure that most crypto firms simply don't have. A 'Kraken HIP-3 test DEX' was enabled around August 19, initiating permission controls on the Hyperliquid testnet.