By Hyperliquid is preparing an extension to its HIP-3 perpetual-market framework that will allow independent deployers to create permissioned markets, adding an optional compliance layer to infrastructure originally designed for permissionless trading. The functionality, called HIP-3*, was announced by Hyperliquid co-founder Jeffrey Yan on September 3 and is already available in preliminary form on testnet. A future network upgrade is expected to bring the functionality to mainnet.
Under HIP-3*, market deployers will be able to maintain onchain allowlists determining which wallets can participate in individual markets. Deployers can manage those lists directly or delegate the responsibility to approved sub-deployers. Crucially, the feature is optional. Existing HIP-3 deployments will remain unchanged, and operators that want fully permissionless markets will not be required to introduce wallet restrictions.
HIP-3* Adds Compliance Tools Without Changing Core Model
HIP-3 allows independent developers to launch perpetual-futures markets directly on Hyperliquid’s HyperCore infrastructure without obtaining approval from Hyperliquid Labs. Deployers determine assets, price oracles, leverage limits, open-interest parameters and other market characteristics while assuming responsibility for operating and settling their markets. Launching a HIP-3 deployment currently requires staking 500,000 HYPE. The model has helped Hyperliquid expand beyond crypto derivatives into perpetual contracts referencing equities, commodities, indices and other real-world assets. HIP-3* adds another parameter: who can trade.
A deployer could, for example, restrict a market to wallets belonging to users who have completed specific identity, jurisdictional or eligibility checks. Because the allowlist exists onchain, access rules can be enforced directly at the market level. That could make HIP-3 infrastructure more useful for regulated financial institutions or operators offering products that cannot legally be made available to every wallet. However, permissioning alone does not make a market compliant with any specific regulatory regime. Independent deployers remain responsible for satisfying the legal and regulatory requirements applicable to their products.
Upgrade Arrives as Hyperliquid Eyes Regulated Markets
The timing is notable because Hyperliquid is increasingly intersecting with traditional regulated finance. Payward, the parent company of Kraken, is reportedly discussing a structure with Hyperliquid Labs that could give U.S. traders access to selected Hyperliquid-linked perpetual futures through Bitnomial. Payward acquired Bitnomial in May. The company operates regulated U.S. derivatives infrastructure including a Commodity Futures Trading Commission-designated contract market, derivatives clearing organization and futures commission merchant. Under the reported proposal, registered Bitnomial customers could trade a limited selection of crypto futures connected to Hyperliquid technology. The proposal has reportedly been presented to the CFTC but remains subject to regulatory approval.
HIP-3* should not be interpreted as confirmation that the Bitnomial arrangement will proceed or that Hyperliquid itself has received authorization to offer its existing platform to U.S. customers. Instead, it provides technical infrastructure that independent operators could use where restricted participation is necessary. That distinction reflects Hyperliquid’s broader strategy. Rather than transforming the entire network into a permissioned venue, the protocol is attempting to support both open and controlled markets on the same underlying infrastructure. HIP-3 has already become economically significant. A June regulatory filing by Hyperliquid Strategies estimated that HIP-3 markets had generated more than $319 billion in cumulative trading volume and represented approximately 37.5% of total Hyperliquid volume as of June 15.
The addition of permissioned deployments could broaden that addressable market further. Institutions, regulated brokers and jurisdiction-specific operators could potentially use Hyperliquid’s trading infrastructure while imposing their own participant requirements. For existing users, however, little changes. HIP-3* does not convert Hyperliquid into a permissioned protocol. It gives individual market deployers the choice to decide whether their particular market should be open to everyone — or only to wallets they have approved.