Hyperliquid's US Push Hits Snag Amid Lazarus Warning and Sanctions Concerns

Hyperliquid's push to enter the US market has hit a snag, courtesy of CME's Lazarus warning.

In May, CME and ICE warned Washington about Hyperliquid's pseudonymous, always-on markets, which could potentially allow sanctioned state actors to circumvent enforcement. This concern was echoed in an Arkham analysis reviewed by CoinDesk, which found that wallets linked to North Korea's Lazarus Group had sold more than $30 million of Bitcoin through Hyperliquid over the prior three weeks.

The proceeds were converted into ETH and SOL before funds moved to Kraken, LBank, and KuCoin. This development comes as Bloomberg reported that Hyperliquid Labs was in advanced talks with Kraken parent Payward over a regulated US entry point.

While this timing could hardly be worse for Hyperliquid, it remains unclear how the proposed US structure would connect to Hyperliquid's market. CME is already fighting the regulatory framework in court, filing Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. v. Selig on June 18 in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.