Hyperliquid Joins Singapore's Crypto Crackdown While Indonesia Tackles FinFluencer Wild West

The regulatory squeeze on decentralized derivatives is tightening across Asia. Hyperliquid, the on-chain perpetuals platform, has now joined Bybit on Singapore's financial watchlist—a signal that even decentralized exchanges aren't safe from regional oversight.

Singapore's Monetary Authority (MAS) continues its aggressive stance against unregistered trading platforms. By adding Hyperliquid to its list of prohibited services, Singapore sends a clear message: decentralized doesn't mean unregulated. The move mirrors the agency's earlier action against Bybit, demonstrating consistent enforcement priorities around leverage trading and retail investor protection.

What makes this significant for crypto portfolio managers is the expanding definition of "naughty list" operators. Hyperliquid markets itself as genuinely decentralized—users maintain self-custody and execute trades on-chain. Yet Singapore's regulatory framework treats it the same as centralized competitors. This creates a precedent that's worth watching: if decentralization status doesn't shield platforms from enforcement, the regulatory perimeter just got a lot wider.

Indonesia's Bold FinFluencer Play

Meanwhile, Indonesia is taking a different approach to crypto market integrity. The country's newly launched scheme aims to license and certify social media influencers who promote cryptocurrency and financial products. It's an unusual regulatory tactic—instead of blanket bans, Indonesia is trying to professionalize the influencer space through credentialing.

The FinFluencer licence program represents Jakarta's attempt to combat rampant misinformation while keeping the crypto sector alive. Indonesia has a massive social media-savvy population, and influencers wield outsized influence over retail traders. By creating an official certification track, regulators hope to establish baseline standards for disclosure, conflict-of-interest management, and investment advice quality.

For traders monitoring Asia's regulatory landscape, this signals Indonesia's pragmatic acceptance of crypto culture—even as it imposes guardrails. The licensing scheme could become a template other emerging markets adopt as they mature their crypto frameworks.

What This Means for Market Intelligence

These two moves reflect Asia's split approach to crypto regulation. Singapore goes hard on prohibition and enforcement. Indonesia chooses professionalization and standards-setting. Both strategies aim at investor protection, but they operate on opposite ends of the permissiveness spectrum.

For portfolio allocation purposes, the Hyperliquid listing matters because it signals where regulatory lines are drawn on decentralized derivatives. If Singapore treats decentralized perpetuals the same as centralized ones, other jurisdictions may follow. That changes the risk calculus for ethereum-based trading platforms and their liquidity providers.

The FinFluencer licence program, conversely, suggests Indonesia sees crypto as a permanent feature of its financial landscape. That creates medium-term stability for projects willing to engage with local regulators and influencer networks.