Singapore's regulator has placed Hyperliquid on its "red list": what this means for DeFi
On June 26, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) added the website of the perpetual DEX Hyperliquid, as well as the portal of the Hyper Foundation organization, to its "Investor Alert List." This list includes services that may be mistakenly perceived by users as licensed and regulated entities.
It is important to emphasize: being placed on this list is not a block, a ban on activity, or the application of enforcement measures. As representatives of Hyperliquid explained, "inclusion in the IAL is not an admission of guilt or a ban. It is simply a warning to investors that the platform does not have a MAS license, and should not be considered otherwise."
Hyperliquid has been added to the MAS's Investor Alert List (IAL). IAL listing does not constitute a ban, an enforcement action, or a finding of wrongdoing. The IAL provides a list of entities that, based on information available to MAS, may be wrongly perceived as being licensed…
— Hyperliquid (@HyperliquidX) June 26, 2026
"The regulator's list includes many major exchanges and DeFi protocols. Hyperliquid is a publicly accessible infrastructure. It does not have, and has never claimed to have, a license or authorization from MAS, and no one should consider it as such. Nothing has changed on the network. As with other open-access blockchains, users hold their own assets, and transactions are processed transparently," the platform team noted.
Notably, since the beginning of summer, the centralized exchanges KuCoin and Bitget have also appeared on this same list. This demonstrates MAS's systematic approach: both CEXs and DeFi protocols come under scrutiny if they could be mistakenly perceived as licensed.
Recall that in June 2025, MAS tightened rules, requiring all crypto companies to obtain a digital token service provider license or cease serving foreign clients. Hyperliquid, being a decentralized platform, formally does not fall under this requirement, but the regulator clearly wants to dispel any illusions about the "regulability" of such projects.
My analysis: The inclusion of Hyperliquid in the IAL is a signal, not a sanction. MAS continues to clear the information field so that investors clearly understand: DeFi protocols operating without a license are a zone of full user responsibility. For the platform itself, this is no more than reputational noise, but for the market, it is another reminder: regulators are not sleeping and are ready to label even the most technologically advanced projects. Hyperliquid, like other DeFi giants, must now more actively explain its nature to users to avoid misunderstandings.