Popular investor and entrepreneur Kyle Samani has accused Hyperliquid of misleading the public over its permissionless status, following Singapore's financial regulator adding the platform to its Investor Alert List (IAL) on June 26. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) placed Hyperliquid on the IAL, flagging it as an entity that residents may mistakenly perceive as licensed or authorized, though the listing carries no ban or enforcement weight. Hyperliquid responded that it has never claimed MAS licensing, maintaining self-custody and transparent on-chain transactions. Samani argued that true permissionlessness requires open-source protocols and globally distributed validators, not concentrated in one location. He raised governance concerns, claiming the Hyperliquid Foundation can jail validators and force software upgrades, stripping them of control. Hyperliquid's setup includes only 24 active validators and a signed binary rather than full source code, with open-sourcing planned after feature completion. Samani's motivations face scrutiny due to his Multicoin Capital exit in February 2026 and his former firm's exposure to competing protocols.

Key facts

• MAS placed Hyperliquid on its Investor Alert List on June 26.
• Samani argues permissionlessness requires open source and global validators.
• Hyperliquid runs only 24 validators, plans expansion to 27.
• Samani claims Foundation can jail validators and force upgrades.
• Samani's Multicoin Capital exit in Feb 2026 adds context to his criticism.