Hyperliquid Regulation in Singapore and Hong Kong

Advanced | 3 min | Last verified 2026-09-07

Singapore and Hong Kong both regulate digital-asset businesses but use different licensing and product frameworks; derivatives, spot token services, custody, and professional-investor access need separate analysis.

Singapore and Hong Kong are both active digital-asset financial centers, but “Asia regulation” is not one regime. Singapore's MAS licenses digital payment token services under its payments framework while capital-markets and derivatives activities can require separate permissions. Hong Kong's SFC has licensed virtual-asset trading platforms and in February 2026 introduced a high-level framework for licensed VATPs to propose leveraged virtual-asset products, including perpetual contracts, for professional investors.

Singapore

MAS's Financial Institutions Directory lists licensed major payment institutions authorized for Digital Payment Token Service. That permission concerns defined payment-token services and should not be assumed to cover every derivatives or capital-markets activity.

Institutions should separately assess Capital Markets Services licensing, custody, derivatives dealing, fund-management, and client-type rules where applicable.

Hong Kong

The SFC's February 11, 2026 announcement allowed virtual-asset brokers to provide certain financing and set a framework for licensed VATPs to develop proposals for VA-related leveraged products for professional investors. The SFC emphasized collateral sufficiency, investor safeguards, and risk-controlled participation.

That is a regulated-platform route, not a blanket approval of every offshore perpetual product.

Protocol versus intermediary

A fund connecting directly to Hyperliquid, a licensed broker offering client access, and a VATP listing a perpetual contract can sit in different regulatory categories. Identify who provides the service and to whom.

Practical rule

For either jurisdiction, verify the current regulator register and the exact licensed activity of every intermediary. A company holding a crypto license may not be licensed for derivatives or advisory services.