FCA flags Hyperliquid as unauthorized — Wall Street piles…

Britain's Financial Conduct Authority placed Hyperliquid and the Hyper Foundation on its unauthorized-firms warning list on May 21, saying the platform may be offering or promoting financial services in the UK without authorization. The FCA advised consumers to avoid the firm entirely and confirmed that users would have no recourse through the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme if they suffered losses.

Why it matters

The UK action is not isolated. Last month, CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange separately raised concerns with the CFTC, warning that Hyperliquid's perpetual futures marketplace could allow sanctioned actors or state-backed entities to gain leveraged exposure to oil and other commodities outside traditional oversight. Kyle Samani, chairman of Forward Industries, called the FCA move the "first of many," a signal that regulatory pressure is likely to intensify as Hyperliquid's real-world asset open interest — which hit a record $3 billion — pulls the platform deeper into territory traditionally governed by CME and ICE.

The CFTC has simultaneously begun carving out regulated channels for perpetual futures, approving Kalshi's Bitcoin perp contract and issuing guidance on 24-hour trading. That shift hands regulated rivals like Kalshi and Coinbase a structural advantage in the US market while Hyperliquid remains outside the framework and blocks US residents from direct access.

Market impact

Analyst Derek Edwards outlined five paths for Hyperliquid: stay offshore, build a regulated US wrapper, decentralize further, centralize into a conventional exchange, or lobby for a bespoke framework. None is clean.