New onchain data has almost confirmed a partnership between Kraken and @HyperliquidX , at least from the Hyperliquid infrastructure side.
Everyone is focused on the name “Kraken HIP-3 test DEX” But the real story is hidden in the wallet flows.
The chain begins with xulian.eth. The wallet is publicly linked to @xulian_hl , a Hyperliquid core contributor focused on ecosystem growth.
On Feb 18, xulian.eth sent 35M test $USDC and 150 000 $HYPE to:
0x0ff3de73773bc5c5f72b42140333e8807803410c
This is the first independently verifiable link in the entire graph.
0x0ff3de73773bc5c5f72b42140333e8807803410c funded 65 addresses, including deployers of at least eight different HIP-3 DEXs.
On July 31, this wallet funded two connected addresses.
The future deployer of the first Kraken DEX:
0x97c009bb121ae2c61a63da31d789e61ea682e974
The deployer of a general-purpose test DEX:
0x1dc255ae8c26eb76918572058407f1100969734c
On Aug 13, 0x1dc255ae8c26eb76918572058407f1100969734c launched the <dmhs> DEX under the name “Test Crypto Exchange.” Star gating was enabled and nine wallets were added to the whitelist.
This is where the new permissioned functions were first tested:
> cancelling user orders
> placing controlled orders
> moving user collateral
This happened before the Kraken DEX was tested.
On Aug 17, 0x97c009bb121ae2c61a63da31d789e61ea682e974 registered a DEX named “Kraken HIP-3 test DEX” It was disabled roughly 1 hour and 40 minutes later. The new compliance functions were not tested on it.
After the failed launch, the same wallet funded new infrastructure.
200 $HYPE to a new deployer:
0xf23ac30f50cb0aa75f03cd8b046b5f71c91ea72b
0.001 $HYPE to a separate oracle wallet:
0x80e9b11253f8396c31bbc75ca1a36a5ddbcfd0f1
The wallet also transferred 1,000 $USDC into the new DEX as liq. Earlier, it had sent 10,000 $USDC to the “Test Crypto Exchange” deployer.
Every stage is connected by direct transfers.
On Aug 18, the new deployer:
0xf23ac30f50cb0aa75f03cd8b046b5f71c91ea72b
registered the <ignp> DEX under the same name, “Kraken HIP-3 test DEX.”
Star gating was enabled on Aug 19. Oracle functions were delegated to a separate address:
0x80e9b11253f8396c31bbc75ca1a36a5ddbcfd0f1
This means the deployer, oracle and liq source were already separated into different operational roles in the second Kraken DEX.
All nine addresses from the “Test Crypto Exchange” whitelist were copied into the new Kraken DEX:
0x1dc255ae8c26eb76918572058407f1100969734c
0x6fd19ac70ea23319a296dbe0a7dd48cb1d3e65f1
0xa5ab5d4f9e74f0c5836a183902ab309cf87f3308
0x03eaea1dc3e83d5c21827c267f06b9651c2fde96
0x95d60cd0af515b6e0120743317b3d87b54ecd3ca
0x54524bf2b9bc021ef15084c2073598ac54ab6b60
0x5bf65a78f4f8a8338a74d667801aae49f9f1a0e2
0xcd029a685babee0116f12e3cf821f01aaaa26f8f
0xbe59fd78eda50b242a6dedf4c4c6dab0dd182ae0
All nine addresses were migrated without changes.
Exactly one additional, tenth wallet was added to the new whitelist:
0x97c009bb121ae2c61a63da31d789e61ea682e974
This was the deployer of the first Kraken DEX, which was disabled 1 hour and 40 min after launch.
The complete sequence: xulian.eth > shared Hyperliquid test infrastructure > Test Crypto Exchange > first Kraken DEX, quickly disabled > new deployer and separate oracle > second Kraken DEX > full whitelist migration
This looks much more like a staged testing process than a random user simply naming their DEX Kraken.
The graph confirms an operational link between every stage and independently verifiable involvement from the Hyperliquid infrastructure side.
Someone on the Hyperliquid side is testing a structured permissioned deployment modeled on Kraken.
It is hard to believe infrastructure this specific to Kraken was deployed without a concrete use case. The real question now is whether Hyperliquid is testing it with Kraken or preparing it for Kraken.
Will Kraken Be the First Compliant HIP-3 Deployer?
In line with the regulatory approach we just laid out, Hyperliquid keeps adding testnet functions that would enable compliant use. In addition to whitelisting, new observed features would allow a deployer to cancel a user's orders, close them out with reduce-only orders, and move their collateral, mirroring capabilities a compliant deployer might need.
One deployer testing this is named "Kraken HIP-3 test DEX". Its Star gating went live on testnet on August 19; it has whitelisted 10 wallets, exercised three of the five controls, and has also registered a "Kraken Exchange Validator".
While this is testnet and anyone could permissionlessly launch a DEX under any name, the testnet behaviors and the recent HyperCore expansion of xStocks (owned by Kraken's parent, Payward) make me lean towards thinking Kraken might be one of the first CEXs testing HyperCore's new permissioned features.
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