MAS places Hyperliquid on "gray list": a warning for DeFi users
On June 26, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) officially added the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid, as well as the website of its managing organization, the Hyper Foundation, to its Investor Alert List (IAL). This regulatory move signals increasing scrutiny of DeFi protocols operating without traditional licenses.
The inclusion in the IAL itself is not a direct ban or the start of enforcement actions. As representatives of Hyperliquid explained, this is rather a preventive measure by MAS aimed at informing investors that this service does not have a regulatory license and could be mistakenly perceived as a legitimate financial institution. The project team emphasized that Hyperliquid has never claimed to be a licensed platform and remains a publicly accessible infrastructure where users self-custody their assets.
Notably, since the beginning of summer, centralized exchanges such as KuCoin and Bitget have also been added to this same list. This demonstrates MAS's consistent stance: the regulator makes no distinction between CEX and DEX if they provide services to Singapore residents without the appropriate authorization. It is worth recalling that as early as June 2025, MAS tightened rules, requiring all crypto companies to obtain a digital token service provider license, or else face the termination of services to clients from this jurisdiction.
Analytical Commentary
The inclusion of Hyperliquid in the IAL is not just a formality but a clear signal to the market. Singapore aims to maintain its reputation as a jurisdiction with transparent rules, yet it does not block innovation. However, for DeFi users, this means increased regulatory risks: even fully non-custodial protocols are now in the crosshairs. In the long term, this could push Hyperliquid and similar projects to seek compromises with authorities, for example, by implementing user verification mechanisms at the interface level, which contradicts the philosophy of anonymous DeFi.