Australia is not named in Hyperliquid's Terms of Use (last updated June 15, 2026), so Australians are not Restricted Persons. Hyperliquid is not licensed in Australia, though, and ASIC's retail protections for CFD-style products do not cover it. Lighter, Aster and edgeX do not name Australia in their trading Terms either.
Regulator: ASIC's CFD order has applied since March 29, 2021; in October 2026 ASIC proposed widening it to derivatives settled in digital assets (what it said).
Warning list: no entry for any of the four venues on ASIC's investor alert list when we searched on October 20, 2026.
Terms re-read and ASIC pages read October 20, 2026.
Who this is for: adults in Australia who are not US persons, not in Ontario and not citizens or residents of a sanctioned territory, and who have checked that leveraged trading suits them. Hyperliquid is not licensed by ASIC.
Trading on Hyperliquid needs an account, and the referral code has to be in place before you trade: open the join link in the browser you will trade in, then make your first deposit and Enable Trading there. A code can no longer be added once an account has more than $10,000 of trading volume.
HOLYGRAIL is our referral code: we earn a share of the fees of accounts that join with it. It is not an offer, and checking the rules where you live comes first.
By Cipher Intelligence Editorial Team · Published · 3 min read · ASIC 26-239MR, consultation CS 64, the Moneysmart investor alert list and four venues' Terms checked October 20, 2026 · How we verify
1. Hyperliquid's Terms and Australia
Some guides describe Australia as having “no restrictions” on Hyperliquid. That is half right. The Terms of Use do not mention Australia, so the contract does not exclude Australians the way it excludes Americans and Ontarians. But the same Terms say in §1.3 that Hyperliquid is not licensed, approved or registered by any regulator in any jurisdiction, and in §1.9 that checking local law on leveraged trading is your job.
In Australia, ASIC applies product rules to CFDs that issuers offer to retail clients, from leverage limits to negative balance protection. Hyperliquid sits outside that system: you can reach it, but none of those protections follow you there.
2. Hyperliquid, Lighter, Aster and edgeX in Australia
Australia under each venue's own Terms
Where you are
HyperliquidTerms of Use, June 15, 2026
LighterTerms of Service, December 29, 2025
AsterTerms and Conditions, February 25, 2026
edgeXTerms of Use, March 24, 2026
Australia
Not named
Not named
Not named
Not named
Clauses: Hyperliquid §1.6, Lighter's Prohibited Person (b) clause under “Access and Restrictions”, Aster §2.1(c), edgeX §1.5; all four Terms re-read on October 20, 2026. “Not named” only means the place is not on that venue's list. It is not a licence and says nothing about local law. Aster's prediction markets, a separate product, list Australia among their closed regions.
All four leave Australia off their trading lists. None holds an Australian financial services licence, and none was on ASIC's investor alert list when we searched.
3. What ASIC said
The CFD product intervention order
ASIC's order for contracts for difference has applied since March 29, 2021 and is due to expire on May 23, 2027. ASIC describes four protections: leverage limits, standardised margin close-out, negative balance protection and a prohibition on certain inducements. They apply to firms issuing CFDs to retail clients in Australia.
“CFDs are complex, leveraged, over-the-counter (OTC) products that can expose retail investors to significant losses. … A small price change against a leveraged CFD position can have a big effect on trading returns or losses, even loss of the entire investment.”
ASIC media release 26-239MR, “ASIC moves to extend and strengthen CFD consumer protections” (consultation attachment dated October 12, 2026). asic.gov.au (read October 20, 2026).
The October 2026 proposal: digital-asset settlement
“We propose to modernise the definition of a CFD to also include derivatives settled through the transfer of digital assets.”
ASIC consultation CS 64; feedback by 5pm AEDT on November 9, 2026. CS 64 (read October 20, 2026).
This matters for perpetual futures. ASIC's draft definition covers a derivative that “does not terminate on a fixed date”, can be terminated by the holder and is settled in cash, by set-off or through the transfer of digital assets; it says some fixed-expiry crypto options and futures would stay outside. A perpetual settled in USDC has no fixed end date. ASIC does not name any venue, and the order would bind issuers, not traders. But the proposal would bring derivatives with those features inside the order, inducement rules included, which is why we do not advertise a fee discount to Australian readers.
4. ASIC's investor alert list
ASIC's Moneysmart site keeps an investor alert list of unlicensed firms and impostors (4,627 entries when we searched). none of Hyperliquid, Lighter, Aster or edgeX was on it when we searched on October 20, 2026. The list is not exhaustive, and absence from it is not approval.
5. What the app does for Australian connections
Not tested. We have not connected to the Hyperliquid app from Australia and do not know which mode its legalCheck returns there. Hiding your location with a VPN or proxy breaches §3.1.5 wherever you are.
6. Funding an account from Australia
Hyperliquid accepts USDC. An eligible reader would typically buy USDC on an Australian exchange, withdraw it to a self-custody wallet on Arbitrum and deposit at least 5 USDC through the Hyperliquid bridge. Our deposit guide covers each step and the network checks.
Who this is for: adults in Australia who are not US persons, not in Ontario and not citizens or residents of a sanctioned territory, and who have checked that leveraged trading suits them. Hyperliquid is not licensed by ASIC.
Eligible and decided? Open the account before your first deposit
Trading on Hyperliquid needs an account, and the referral code has to be in place before you trade: open the join link in the browser you will trade in, then make your first deposit and Enable Trading there. A code can no longer be added once an account has more than $10,000 of trading volume.
HOLYGRAIL is our referral code: we earn a share of the fees of accounts that join with it. It is not an offer, and checking the rules where you live comes first.
We do not give legal verdicts. What the documents say: Hyperliquid's Terms (last updated June 15, 2026, re-read October 20, 2026) do not name Australia, so Australians are not Restricted Persons; Hyperliquid holds no licence or registration anywhere (§1.3), including no Australian financial services licence; and §1.9 makes you responsible for checking the local rules on leveraged derivatives.
Is Hyperliquid regulated by ASIC?
No. Hyperliquid's own Terms say it is not licensed or registered by any regulator in any jurisdiction, and it is not an ASIC-licensed derivatives issuer. When we searched ASIC's Moneysmart investor alert list on October 20, 2026, it had no entry for Hyperliquid either; that is not a licence.
Does ASIC's leverage cap apply on Hyperliquid?
ASIC's CFD product intervention order applies to firms issuing CFDs to retail clients in Australia, which Hyperliquid does not claim to be. So the order's leverage limits are not applied to you there: Hyperliquid sets its own maximums (up to 40x on BTC). That is a reason to be careful, not a feature.
What did ASIC propose in October 2026?
To extend the CFD order (currently due to expire on May 23, 2027) for ten years and to widen the CFD definition to derivatives settled by transferring digital assets, provided they have no fixed end date and can be closed by the holder. Feedback closes on November 9, 2026; it is a proposal, not yet law.
Can Australians use Aster, Lighter or edgeX?
Their trading Terms do not name Australia. Aster's separate prediction markets do list Australia as a closed region. None of the three holds an Australian licence.
Does an Australian need to pay tax on Hyperliquid trades?
We do not give tax advice. The ATO explains how it treats crypto asset investments on its crypto asset investments page, linked in the tax section of this article.
Who this is for: adults in Australia who are not US persons, not in Ontario and not citizens or residents of a sanctioned territory, and who have checked that leveraged trading suits them. Hyperliquid is not licensed by ASIC.
Trading on Hyperliquid needs an account, and the referral code has to be in place before you trade: open the join link in the browser you will trade in, then make your first deposit and Enable Trading there. A code can no longer be added once an account has more than $10,000 of trading volume.
HOLYGRAIL is our referral code: we earn a share of the fees of accounts that join with it. It is not an offer, and checking the rules where you live comes first.
Disclosure: HOLYGRAIL is our Hyperliquid referral code; we earn a share of the fees of accounts that join with it, and it never raises yours. Hyperliquid's Terms (last updated June 15, 2026) and the Lighter, Aster and edgeX Terms were re-read October 20, 2026; ASIC's 26-239MR, consultation CS 64 and the Moneysmart investor alert list were read and searched the same day. This is not legal, financial or tax advice, and Cipher Intelligence holds no Australian financial services licence.