Overview
- The UK Financial Conduct Authority published a warning dated May 21 listing Hyperliquid and Hyper Foundation as unauthorised and advising UK consumers to avoid the platform because users would not have access to UK complaint or compensation schemes.
- Hyperliquid remains one of the largest decentralized perpetual‑futures venues, reporting roughly $255 million in year‑to‑date revenue and a 101% year‑to‑date gain in its HYPE token by May 20, which has increased its market influence and visibility.
- U.S. policy has moved to allow some regulated perpetuals, with the CFTC approving Kalshi’s bitcoin perpetual and guidance enabling certain Deribit products to reach U.S. clients, prompting legacy exchange chiefs to warn about leverage, liquidation systems, and market integrity.
- Coinbase’s role as the official USDC treasury deployer on Hyperliquid links the protocol to U.S. regulated plumbing and sharpens regulatory concerns about market manipulation, sanctions risks, custody of collateral, and the need for surveillance.
- Experts say Hyperliquid now faces five practical paths — ignore U.S. users, build a regulated U.S. wrapper, pursue deeper decentralisation under emerging law, centralise and convert HYPE economics, or lobby for bespoke rules — and each option will change how users access the platform and what protections they have.