The acquisition centers on Bitnomial's regulatory infrastructure, as the first fully CFTC-licensed derivatives company in the United States built for digital assets. The platform holds all three CFTC-issued licenses required to operate a full-stack domestic crypto trading and derivatives business: exchange, clearinghouse, and brokerage.
Beyond regulatory access, the deal expands Payward Services, the company's B2B infrastructure platform that gives partners access to financial infrastructure capabilities through APIs. The platform now includes crypto trading, tokenized equities, staking, on/off-ramps, and regulated U.S. derivatives.
“The shape of a market is determined by its clearing infrastructure, not its front end,” said Payward Co-CEO Arjun Sethi, in a statement. “Settlement mechanics, margin models, and contract structures define what products can exist and who can access them. The U.S. has had no clearing infrastructure built for digital assets.”
“Bitnomial spent a decade building it: crypto settlement, crypto collateral, continuous 24/7 markets,” he continued. “These are capabilities that cannot be retrofitted onto legacy systems. They have to be built natively. That is the regulated foundation we are adding to Payward, starting with spot margin, perpetuals, and options for U.S. clients under CFTC regulation.”
