Connecticut Attorney General William Tong issued a September 3, 2026 consumer alert warning residents about unregulated offshore DeFi (decentralized finance) cryptocurrency exchanges after at least one state consumer deposited $200,000 that is now unrecoverable. Joined by Banking Commissioner Jorge Perez, Tong identified GMX, Gains Network, dYdX, Aevo, Drift Protocol, Vertex Protocol and Hyperliquid as platforms operating outside state and federal safeguards. The alert said DeFi platforms present finance run through software and smart contracts (self-executing blockchain code), but argued that many major platforms are centralized corporate operations with opaque management and offshore registrations. It also highlighted risks from wallet-only access, including money laundering, sanctions evasion and activity by state-backed actors such as North Korean hackers. International scrutiny is increasing: the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority warned in May 2026 that Hyperliquid and its foundation were unauthorized, while the Monetary Authority of Singapore placed Hyperliquid on its Investor Alert List over unauthorized derivatives activity. Connecticut has expanded digital-asset protections, including safeguards for cryptocurrency ATMs, but Tong said cryptocurrency and decentralized trading transactions are generally irreversible. Consumers who believe they were targeted by an unregulated overseas exchange were urged to report the matter immediately to the Office of the Attorney General.