Hyperliquid Restricted Countries 2026 (What Its Terms Say)

Hyperliquid publishes no country list. Its Terms of Use, last updated 15 June 2026, bar “Restricted Persons”: anyone residing, located or incorporated in the United States or in Ontario, Canada, anyone in a jurisdiction under economic or trade sanctions, and citizens of those territories wherever they live. Two named places, then a moving sanctions test applied by reference.

What Hyperliquid actually restricts (there is no country list)

Clause 1.6 of Hyperliquid’s Terms of Use, last updated 15 June 2026, defines “Restricted Persons” in three parts: (a) persons or entities who reside in, are located in, are incorporated in, or have a registered office in the United States of America or Ontario, Canada; (b) the same categories in jurisdictions subject to economic and trade sanctions or export control laws, called “Restricted Territories”; and (c) citizens of Restricted Territories, regardless of their location. Only two places are named.

That structure is the whole story. A centralised exchange publishes a fixed list you can check against your passport; Hyperliquid publishes a legal test that moves whenever a sanctions or export-control regime moves. The practical effect is that you cannot look up your country and get a yes or no. You have to know whether your jurisdiction is under sanctions, and clause 1.9 puts that determination squarely on you: “You are solely responsible for determining whether your access to and use of the Interface complies with applicable laws and regulations in your jurisdiction.”

Only Ontario, not all of Canada — and why that matters

Hyperliquid names a single Canadian province. Almost every centralised exchange we track goes wider: Bybit, MEXC, Bitget and BloFin list Canada in full, OKX restricts it, and KuCoin names Ontario and British Columbia. A resident of Alberta or Quebec is therefore outside Hyperliquid’s named restriction while still being shut out of most large offshore exchanges — an inversion you will not find anywhere else in this cluster.

Ontario is singled out because it is the province whose securities regulator has pursued offshore crypto platforms most actively. Hyperliquid does not explain the choice in its Terms, and we will not put words in its mouth. What we can say is factual: the province appears in clause 1.6(a) alongside the United States, and no other sub-national region is named anywhere in the document. If you are a Canadian outside Ontario, our Canada alternatives guide covers the locally registered route, because the offshore door is closed.

Outcome markets carry a second, unpublished block

Clauses 1.7 and 1.8 add a narrower restriction that applies only to outcome markets — the prediction-market tab. They define “Excluded Persons” as people subject to the laws of “certain jurisdictions that we designate from time to time”, plus anyone for whom access would be unlawful or would require a licence that has not been obtained. Those jurisdictions are not listed anywhere in the Terms.

Clause 1.8 then states that the operator “may implement technical, operational or other measures designed to block access to the outcome markets tab” and that users “must not circumvent, attempt to circumvent or assist any other person to circumvent any such measures”. So Hyperliquid has two restriction layers: a broad one for the whole interface with two named places, and a narrow one for prediction markets with no named places at all. If you can reach spot and perpetuals but the outcome markets tab is missing or greyed out, clause 1.7 is the reason.

No KYC is not the same as no gatekeeping

The words KYC, identity verification and account registration do not appear in Hyperliquid’s Terms of Use. Access runs through a non-custodial wallet: clause 1.4 says the operator “has no custody or control over the contents of your wallet and has no ability to retrieve or transfer its contents”. There is no document upload, no selfie and no address proof. That is genuinely different from every centralised exchange in this cluster.

What replaces KYC

Three things. First, an IP-level check in the interface: connect from a location the front end treats as blocked and you get a red banner linking to the Terms, with deposits and withdrawals disabled. Second, a wallet-level block, applied to the address rather than to a person. Third, clause 6.2, which lets the operator “suspend or terminate your participation in any feature” without notice where use is unauthorised, deceptive or unlawful, or where suspension is needed to comply with applicable laws.

Where identity checks come back

Money in and money out. Buying crypto with a card through a third-party fiat on-ramp reached from the interface puts you inside that provider’s own identity checks and its own country list, which is not the same list as Hyperliquid’s. ⚠ Not confirmed — verify the provider’s terms before you use a fiat route: we do not track third-party on-ramp restrictions and will not guess at them.

The VPN question, answered by the Terms themselves

Clause 3.1.5 is unusually explicit. It lists as a prohibited activity “using technologies such as VPNs, proxies, or other methods to conceal your location” and “making false statements or misrepresentations about your residency, citizenship, or compliance with applicable laws”. Clause 1.9 repeats it as a warranty you give every time you use the interface. Breach it and clause 9 makes you liable to indemnify the operator. We do not recommend it, and this page will not explain how.

How a perp DEX restriction differs from a CEX ban

The difference is not just the length of the list. A centralised exchange holds your funds, checks your documents and can freeze a balance it already controls. Hyperliquid’s interface operator holds nothing: clause 1.3 states that neither the interface nor the chain is “licensed, approved, authorized, endorsed, or registered by any governmental authority or regulatory body in any jurisdiction”. That cuts both ways — less to freeze, and no regulator to complain to.

The last row is the one people underrate. If a CEX decides your country has become restricted, your balance is inside its system and the exit is on its timetable — that is what makes the Bitget and KuCoin lists worth reading before you deposit. On a non-custodial venue the assets stay in your wallet, but there is also no support desk, no deposit protection and no licensed entity behind the venue.

If Hyperliquid is closed to you, what are the options?

For the two named places, the honest answer is that the offshore alternatives are closed as well. Every centralised exchange we track blocks the United States, and all of them block the whole of Canada, Ontario included. Being turned away by a perp DEX does not open a CEX door — usually the opposite. Where switching genuinely works is the reverse case: readers who can use Hyperliquid but want custody, fiat rails and a support desk.

• United States: no offshore exchange in our comparison accepts US persons. A domestic, licensed platform is the only compliant route — see US alternatives.
• Ontario and the rest of Canada: Bybit, MEXC, Bitget, KuCoin and BloFin block Canada in full; KuCoin names Ontario and British Columbia specifically. See Canada alternatives.
• Sanctioned territories, and citizens of them anywhere in the world: there is no compliant alternative and we do not suggest one.
• Everywhere else: Hyperliquid’s Terms do not name you. If you want perpetuals with custody, fiat deposits and a support desk instead, the centralised options below are the ones we track — check your own country in Bybit restricted countries and MEXC restricted countries first.
• If self-custody is the point: compare the reduced-verification centralised options in our no-KYC exchanges guide before assuming a DEX is the only route.

We may earn a commission if you open an account via our links.

Frequently asked questions

Seven questions readers type about Hyperliquid access, answered from its Terms of Use of 15 June 2026. Short version: no country list at all, two named places, a sanctions test applied by reference, no KYC in the Terms and a second unpublished block on outcome markets.