Who will guard the guards? A head office in Singapore, but a regulator who refuses to take charge. The Financial Times documented the situation on October 6. Hyperliquid Labs confirms a registered headquarters in the city-state. However, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) does not consider itself competent on the perpetual contract platform. This is not a decision of the day: the regulator published its alert three months ago. As of June 26, MAS placed Hyperliquid on its Investor Alert List. This morning's replays are on schedule: TOKEN2049 takes place in Singapore on October 7 and 8.
Hyperliquid and MAS: who is responsible?
The information comes from the Financial Times. Hyperliquid Labs confirms that the company is based and registered in Singapore. It says it is “currently unregulated”. She adds that she never claimed to have authorization from the MAS. The regulator responds that he does not consider himself competent. He also says he does not know if a major jurisdiction regulates Hyperliquid, according to the article's relays.
The basis of the file is not new. On June 26, MAS had already placed Hyperliquid on its Investor Alert List. However, this is not a ban. This list identifies the actors that the public could wrongly believe to be approved by the regulator. Hyperliquid also responded the same day that it had never requested a license.
Job offers also suggest a local office. According to KuCoin, around 11 people joined Singapore in 2024 around co-founder Jeff Yan. MAS cites the decentralized structure of the platform, according to the FT. Settlement goes through the blockchain and users keep their funds.
Perpetuals: a product without a supervisor
A perpetual contract is a derivative product with no maturity date, often with high leverage. We bet on the rise or fall of a price with a reduced stake. Hyperliquid allows you to bet on cryptos, crude oil or stocks. The regulatory void is obvious. A headquarters, employees, billions of volumes, but no one to respond in the event of a slip-up.
Here, the debate goes beyond Singapore. On May 21, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) placed Hyperliquid and the Hyper Foundation on its warning list, Decrypt reports. The regulator suspects them of offering financial services without authorization and advises savers to avoid them. In the United States, the platform itself blocks direct access from residents. However, CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange alerted the CFTC. The two stock market operators fear price manipulation on oil and circumvention of sanctions.
The logic is the same everywhere. A regulator supervises intermediaries: an approved company, a depositary, a clearing house. However, Hyperliquid does not offer any of these outlets. Orders are executed on a blockchain, funds remain with users and identity verification remains limited. Each authority can therefore report the risk. On the other hand, it struggles to designate the entity to be approved or sanctioned, even when a headquarters exists, as in Singapore. An alert list warns the public, it does not close anything.
HYPE and ETF: Wall Street is not worried about it
For its part, the market did not panic. The HYPE token was trading at $92.60, according to Cryptotimes. Over 24 hours, it moved between 91.11 and 95.21 dollars. The same day, 3.75 million HYPE intended for historical contributors were released. This lot of around 340 million dollars found a buyer over the counter, with a single institutional buyer.
On the Wall Street side, the Grayscale Hyperliquid Staking ETF (HYPG) has been trading on the Nasdaq since June 3, with 0.29% fees. An 8-K filed on October 5 adds BitGo as an additional custodian, according to Crypto Briefing. It puts assets at approximately $217.8 million, of which 89 to 91% is staking. Without a local license, the platform is already attracting institutional investors.
