UK FCA flags Hyperliquid as unauthorized firm targeting British users

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority said in a May 21 notice that Hyperliquid and the Hyper Foundation may be providing or promoting financial services in Britain without authorization, warning consumers to avoid dealing with the firm and beware of scams. The regulator listed the Hyper Foundation website, the Hyperliquid trading app and the project’s social media channels under its unauthorized firm details, and said users would not have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service or Financial Services Compensation Scheme if they lost money. The notice lands as Hyperliquid draws wider attention for its growth as a decentralized, non-custodial derivatives exchange centered on perpetual futures. The platform has expanded from crypto-native trading into synthetic markets tied to stocks, commodities and private companies through its HIP-3 markets, pushing it closer to segments long dominated by traditional exchanges. That expansion has also triggered pushback in the United States. Executives from CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange recently raised concerns with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over Hyperliquid’s growing perpetual futures marketplace, arguing that limited identity checks and open access could create risks around manipulation, sanctions evasion and exposure linked to oil benchmarks. At the same time, the CFTC has been opening a regulated path for perpetual derivatives through approved venues, including Kalshi’s Bitcoin perpetual futures contract and guidance tied to 24-hour trading. Supporters of Hyperliquid say on-chain transparency and continuous trading can improve surveillance and price discovery, but investors and market observers say the platform now faces a more difficult strategic choice over whether to remain offshore, pursue a regulated structure, decentralize further or seek a bespoke framework as scrutiny intensifies.