MAS adds Hyperliquid to the "grey list": what this means for Singapore's DeFi sector
On June 26, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) officially added the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid and the Hyper Foundation website to its Investor Alert List (IAL). This move is not a sanction or a ban on operations, but a signal to the market that these platforms may be mistakenly perceived by users as being licensed by the regulator.
Hyperliquid is a perp-DEX operating on its own high-performance blockchain. Inclusion in the IAL does not mean the platform has violated any laws. MAS is merely warning investors that Hyperliquid does not have a regulatory license and should not be perceived as such. The Hyperliquid team itself reacted calmly, emphasizing that their infrastructure is open and public, and users retain full control over their assets.
It is important to note that MAS is consistently tightening oversight of the crypto industry. Since June 2025, the regulator has required all crypto companies serving clients outside Singapore to obtain a digital token service provider license. Otherwise, they must cease operations with foreigners. Previously, giants such as KuCoin and Bitget were already added to the IAL.
From an analyst's perspective, the inclusion of Hyperliquid in the list sets a precedent for DeFi protocols. MAS is clearly signaling that it does not intend to tolerate "gray areas," even if the platform has no legal presence in the jurisdiction. For Hyperliquid, this is primarily a reputational blow, but not an operational one. However, if the regulator begins to demand blocking access to the site for Singaporean users, the consequences could be more severe. For now, this is a warning for all DeFi projects: transparency and the absence of a license do not protect you from regulatory scrutiny if your platform is accessible from within their jurisdiction.