Singapore’s top financial watchdog just put Hyperliquid on notice. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) added the high-speed trading platform to its Investor Alert List on June 26, flagging it as neither licensed nor authorized to operate in the city-state.

The move doesn’t ban Hyperliquid outright. But it does tell Singaporean users something important: if things go sideways on the platform, MAS protections won’t be there to catch you.

What the Investor Alert List actually means

MAS launched the list back in 2004 as a public warning tool. Its purpose is straightforward: inform residents when a financial service provider hasn’t obtained the proper licenses to operate within Singapore’s jurisdiction. Being on the list doesn’t mean Hyperliquid is fraudulent. It means the platform hasn’t gone through Singapore’s regulatory gatekeeping process, which covers things like capital requirements, anti-money laundering compliance, and consumer safeguards.

Hyperliquid’s profile and why regulators are paying attention

Hyperliquid is a Layer-1 blockchain purpose-built for perpetual futures and spot trading. The platform’s native token, HYPE, plays multiple roles in the ecosystem. It handles staking, governance, gas fees, and provides trading discounts to holders. The token has a maximum supply capped at 1 billion, with roughly 222 million currently in circulation.

Hyperliquid is incorporated in the Cayman Islands. The platform reportedly operates with a lean team of around 11 employees, which is remarkably small for a protocol managing billions in trading volume.

Hyperliquid isn’t the only one catching heat. MAS added Bybit to the same Investor Alert List just nine days earlier, on June 17. The back-to-back listings suggest Singapore is systematically working through a roster of unlicensed platforms that its residents can access.

A pattern of regulatory tightening

Singapore’s Payment Services Act requires crypto platforms serving Singaporean users to obtain a license. The Investor Alert List has grown substantially over time, and the rapid-fire additions of Bybit and Hyperliquid within the same month signal that MAS isn’t slowing down.

What this means for investors

For Singaporean users of Hyperliquid, any funds deposited on the platform sit outside the protective umbrella of MAS regulation. If the platform experiences a hack, a liquidity crisis, or any dispute over user funds, there’s no local regulatory body to escalate to.

Hyperliquid’s roughly $14B market cap demonstrates that demand for decentralized perpetual futures trading remains robust. With a team of roughly 11 people, Hyperliquid’s bandwidth for navigating multi-jurisdictional compliance is presumably limited.