$GT Gate News reports, April 17 — Payward, the parent company of a major centralized exchange (CEX), announced that it has reached a binding final agreement to acquire Bitnomial — the first digital asset derivatives company fully licensed by the U.S. CFTC — with a transaction value of up to $550 million dollars, paid in cash and stock. The deal values Payward at approximately $20 billion on an equity basis. Bitnomial's approval by the CFTC marks a significant step forward in the regulated U.S. crypto derivatives trading space.