[DigitalToday reporter Jae-won Choi] Signs have been detected that a wallet assessed to be linked to North Korea's hacking group Lazarus sold more than $30 million worth of bitcoin on decentralised derivatives platform Hyperliquid. The timing coincides with Hyperliquid's push to enter the U.S. regulated market, raising sanctions and anti-money laundering issues as a new burden.

On Sept. 2 (local time), CryptoSlate reported that Lazarus-linked wallets analysed by on-chain analytics firm Arkham sold more than $30 million in bitcoin on Hyperliquid over the past three weeks. The funds were then converted into ether (ETH) and solana (SOL) and moved to centralised exchanges such as Kraken, LBank and KuCoin, it said.

Hyperliquid is also seeking to enter the United States. Bloomberg reported that Hyperliquid Labs and Payward, the parent of Kraken, are in talks on a plan to offer regulated perpetual futures to U.S. users. The structure would use Bitnomial, a CFTC-regulated exchange acquired by Payward in May. Regulatory approval, however, is still pending.

The key is how the U.S. market will be connected to existing Hyperliquid liquidity. If Bitnomial runs separate order books, know-your-customer checks and clearing and surveillance systems, and Hyperliquid provides only pricing or technology, the direct link between the Lazarus case and U.S. customers would weaken. If orders, hedging and settlement are connected to Hyperliquid's anonymity-based liquidity, scrutiny of sanctioned wallets and counterparty exposure could become bigger issues. The specific structure has not been disclosed.

Traditional finance has already raised concerns. CME and Intercontinental Exchange, the parent of the New York Stock Exchange, told U.S. authorities in May that Hyperliquid's anonymous trading environment could be used for market manipulation or sanctions evasion. CME then filed a lawsuit against the CFTC in June, arguing that crypto perpetual contracts allowed for Kalshi and Coinbase are closer to swaps subject to separate regulation rather than futures.

ICE later moderated its stance. Jeffrey Sprecher (제프리 스프레처), ICE's chairman and CEO, said he had met Hyperliquid several times to discuss market structure, and described it as more of a warning bell for existing exchanges than an outright threat.

The Lazarus case does not immediately block Hyperliquid's U.S. expansion. It is also possible to argue that bringing U.S. users' trading into a strictly segregated regulated infrastructure could lower risks. The key going forward is how separated Bitnomial and Hyperliquid are in practice in terms of orders, liquidity and settlement.