Singapore bans unlicensed crypto firms serving overseas customers from June 30, 2025

• Singapore-based crypto firms serving solely overseas customers must obtain a license by June 30, 2025, or stop operations entirely.
• MAS stated it will “generally not issue such licences” and expects affected persons to cease Singapore operations instead.
• Hyperliquid’s decentralized structure may exempt it from licensing, but MAS added the platform to its warning list on June 26, signaling regulatory scrutiny.

• June 30, 2025 Hard deadline for Singapore crypto firms serving only overseas customers
• 11 people Size of Hyperliquid’s team that relocated to Singapore in 2024
• $91.64 HYPE token price, down 3 percent in 24 hours as of reporting

The Monetary Authority of Singapore will force a restructuring of the city-state’s crypto services sector when a new licensing requirement takes effect on June 30, 2025. Under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022, Singapore-incorporated companies, partnerships and individuals providing digital token services solely to overseas customers must hold a DTSP license or cease operations. MAS made clear on June 26 that it will issue such licenses only in “extremely limited circumstances,” effectively closing the path for most offshore-focused crypto businesses to remain based in Singapore.

The framework targets regulated activities including exchange facilitation, brokering, custodial services and transmission of digital payment tokens, the core functions of centralized trading platforms. Hyperliquid, which confirmed it is registered in Singapore with about 11 employees led by co-founder Jeff Yan who relocated to the city in 2024, has never applied for an MAS license and does not appear to fall cleanly within the regulator’s scope due to its on-chain settlement model and user-custodied assets.

MAS warning list signals regulatory uncertainty over decentralized platforms

MAS added Hyperliquid to Singapore’s crypto warning list on June 26, flagging it as a firm the public might wrongly assume the regulator oversees. The designation carries no enforcement power, it functions as a cautionary notice rather than a ban.

Hyperliquid’s response centered on its permissionless architecture: the platform operates as smart contracts on blockchain, settlements occur on-chain, and users retain custody of their own funds. That decentralized design is why MAS does not claim regulatory jurisdiction over the platform itself.

Yet the warning suggests MAS views Hyperliquid’s Singapore presence as a material fact worthy of public disclosure. The regulator’s position creates a regulatory gray zone: if Hyperliquid’s operations are truly decentralized and customer-custodied, MAS may lack jurisdiction; if Singapore-based personnel drive operations or marketing toward the platform, the firm could fall under MAS oversight.

Kyle Samani, chairman of Forward Industries, disputed Hyperliquid’s permissionless characterization in a post on X, stating that the platform does not meet that definition and that claims otherwise constitute “gaslighting the public.”

Singapore’s June 30 deadline reshapes the offshore crypto operations landscape

The FSMA licensing regime addresses a regulatory gap: it targets unlicensed Singapore-based persons offering regulated services overseas, given the internet-based and cross-border nature of such services. Prior to this requirement, such firms operated without explicit authorization because their primary customers and activities were offshore. That loophole closes on June 30, 2025.

Firms already licensed or exempt under Singapore’s Payment Services Act 2019 (covering digital payment tokens like Bitcoin and Ethereum), Securities and Futures Act 2001, or Financial Advisers Act 2001 face no new obligation.

However, entities structured purely to serve overseas customers without an existing regulatory foothold, including decentralized protocol teams and offshore exchange operators, must either obtain a DTSP license, which MAS will rarely grant, or relocate their Singapore operations.

The practical effect is that most offshore-focused crypto services will move their headcount and operations out of Singapore by the deadline. Whether Hyperliquid’s claimed permissionless status insulates it from that requirement, or whether MAS will take enforcement action against its Singapore team, remains unresolved.

The CCS read. We see institutional traders and market-making firms already licensed under Singapore’s existing regimes (PSA, SFA) facing no disruption; the June 30 deadline pins down only marginal offshore operators and forces a geographic arbitrage reset. Hyperliquid’s card has not been played: MAS may rule that decentralized protocols fall outside FSMA scope entirely, or may argue that Singapore-based personnel constitute a “place of business” triggering licensing. That distinction will decide whether token-based platforms can anchor operations in Asia’s main financial hub or must migrate west.

The CFTC is also tightening crypto trading oversight in the United States, seeking comment on new crypto asset trading rules and citing the $8 billion FTX fraud as justification for early action. Hyperliquid’s next move, whether to apply for an MAS license, cease Singapore operations, or formally request a regulatory determination on its decentralized status, will likely arrive within the next six months as the June 30 deadline approaches.