Fomo App Restricted Countries & Regulations

Anyone living in, located in or holding citizenship of Fomo's 12 named restricted jurisdictions is excluded from the app. The list includes Cuba, Iran, North Korea and three occupied regions of Ukraine. Further restrictions apply to perpetual futures and Robinhood stock tokens, both of which exclude every US person.

Built by FOMO Labs, Inc., Fomo is a self-custodial trading app, meaning users hold the keys to their own wallets. Its fees and features are covered in our guide to the Fomo app. In the 30 days to 3 Oct 2026, DefiLlama's Fomo dashboard recorded $35.43 million in trading fees.

The company states that no regulator has registered or licensed it. Which rules apply to a user depends on their country and the product they trade.

Fomo app restricted countries, clause by clause

A person is barred from Fomo if they reside in, are located in or hold citizenship of a restricted jurisdiction. Companies incorporated or headquartered in those places are also excluded under Fomo's Terms of Service, dated 17 Aug 2026.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the US Treasury office responsible for sanctions, distinguishes between comprehensive and selective sanctions programs. Fomo makes no such distinction in its terms. All 12 named places are excluded in full.

Neither Russia nor Belarus nor Syria is named. Whether the sanctions clause covers them remains open because the terms provide no test for what counts as a similar sanction.

In November 2021, a Law Library of Congress survey counted nine jurisdictions with an absolute cryptocurrency ban and 42 with an implicit ban, such as prohibiting banks from handling it. Fomo's terms name none of them. Users in those places must assess their own eligibility under the crypto prohibition clause.

The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union and Australia are outside this general list. People there can open accounts and trade tokens, subject to local law and the product limits below.

Fomo products with separate country restrictions

Perpetual futures and Robinhood stock tokens have stricter country rules than the app itself.

Perpetual futures, or perps, track an asset's price and never expire. Traders usually use leverage to hold a position larger than the money they put up as margin. On 11 Jun 2026, Fomo added perps through the outside exchanges Hyperliquid and Trade[XYZ].

Robinhood stock tokens are blockchain tokens that follow the price of a US share or fund. Our board of tokenised stocks and commodities tracks this market across issuers.

Bank withdrawals have regional limits too. Fomo's deposits and withdrawals guide says they are unsupported in some regions but does not list them.

Who counts as a US person for Fomo perps

Section 10 defines a US Person as any US resident, any US citizen or permanent resident wherever they are, any company organised under US law and any account held for one of them. This bars an American working in Berlin from perps. A tourist from any country is also barred while physically inside the United States.

Only the United States is named in Fomo's perps clause. Hyperliquid's own restricted countries also include Ontario, and Fomo reserves sole discretion to close perps to additional jurisdictions.

According to DefiLlama's figures for the app, perps placed through Fomo totalled $2.18 billion in the 30 days to 3 Oct 2026. These markets cover crypto, shares, indices and commodities. Our dashboard of stock, gold and oil perpetuals includes Hyperliquid's non-crypto markets.

Where Robinhood stock tokens are restricted on Fomo

Under Section 11, US persons cannot access Robinhood Tokens. The same restriction applies to residents of Canada, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, as well as anyone located there. Fomo also adopts Robinhood's restricted jurisdictions page, which names investors in Cuba, Belarus, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, Ukraine, South Sudan, Sudan, Myanmar and Venezuela.

Robinhood's list adds Russia, Belarus, Syria, South Sudan and the whole of Ukraine to the places Fomo names. It can change at any time, with Fomo's terms following those changes.

The two companies describe the tokens differently. Fomo's terms call them derivative contracts issued by Robinhood Europe UAB, a Lithuanian investment firm. On Robinhood's stock token page, the issuer is Robinhood Assets (Jersey) Limited and the products are described as tokenised debt securities. Both documents apply the same four-country exclusion.

Fomo says it has no affiliation or contract with Robinhood and conducts no suitability check on buyers.

How Fomo applies its country restrictions in practice

Users establish their eligibility through their own promises. Registration requires an email address or Apple ID, with an outside provider, Privy, generating the wallet according to the terms. Each user warrants that they are at least 18 and outside every restricted jurisdiction. They also promise not to control the account from inside one.

No identity check is specified for token trading. Access to perps, however, can be made conditional on providing know your customer (KYC) documents, such as a passport.

Country, location and IP address are among the details collected automatically under Fomo's privacy policy. An IP address is the number identifying an internet connection.

To enforce product restrictions, Sections 10 and 11 permit identity verification, behavioural analysis and geoblocking, which means refusing connections from a given place. Fomo can suspend or close accounts found in breach without notice and may cooperate with regulators.

Users must also supply accurate identity details when outside providers request them.

Using a VPN on Fomo from a restricted country

A virtual private network (VPN) can make an internet connection appear to come from another place. It does not change residence, citizenship or physical location, the tests Fomo uses to determine eligibility.

Using a VPN, proxy or similar tool to bypass restrictions is prohibited. For perps and Robinhood Tokens, the terms classify this as a material breach that permits immediate termination. Disguising an IP address is separately barred in the list of prohibited uses.

Why Fomo restricts these countries and products

The restrictions trace to laws that would otherwise bind Fomo or the companies behind its products.

• Sanctions law: OFAC-administered US sanctions prohibit dealings with embargoed places and listed people. Fomo's terms are governed by New York law and extend the same treatment to UK and EU sanctions lists.
• US derivatives law: On 29 May 2026, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the US derivatives regulator, approved the first US perpetual futures contract on a registered exchange. Fomo uses outside protocols for perps, and Hyperliquid's Terms of Use exclude Americans.
• US securities law: Robinhood says its stock tokens are unregistered under the Securities Act of 1933. Sales are permitted only outside the United States to non-US persons under Regulation S, which covers offshore sales.
• UK promotion law: Robinhood directs its stock token page only at people outside the United Kingdom. The page cites section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, which restricts inviting UK residents into investment activity.

How US regulators treat the Fomo app

Americans can use Fomo to trade tokens. Supportive staff guidance issued in 2026 addressed that part of the business.

On 13 Apr 2026, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff said they would not object to certain self-custodial trading interfaces operating without broker-dealer registration, provided they meet set conditions. Broker-dealers are licensed firms that handle securities trades for clients.

An app must, among other conditions, charge a fixed fee that is the same for every exchange and avoid soliciting specific trades. It must also disclose that its provider is not SEC-registered. The statement applies only to crypto assets that are securities and names no company. It carries no legal force and lapses after five years unless the Commission acts.

Typical memecoins, tokens inspired by internet jokes or trends, fall outside securities law under the SEC staff's 2025 statement on meme coins. Their buyers therefore do not receive that law's investor protections.

Because Fomo never holds customer funds, it arguably falls outside money-handling laws, Fortune reported in June 2026. Co-founder Se Yong Park told the magazine that the company works to remain compliant.

Americans remain excluded from Fomo perps. On 16 Sep 2026, Kraken's parent Payward announced plans for a Hyperliquid market limited to approved US clients, though regulatory approval is still required. The CLARITY Act, a bill that would divide crypto oversight between the SEC and CFTC, failed a Senate procedural vote on 15 Sep 2026.

Fomo regulation in the UK, EU, Canada and Australia

For users outside the United States, most compliance questions are left to local law under Fomo's terms.

Fomo in the United Kingdom

Robinhood Tokens are the only product Fomo's terms exclude UK residents from accessing. Since 6 Jan 2021, however, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK's financial regulator, has banned firms from selling crypto derivatives to retail consumers.

On 21 May 2026, the FCA added Hyperliquid to its warning list as a firm that may be operating without permission. UK users opening perps through Fomo are therefore trading on an exchange the regulator has warned about. Customers of an unauthorised firm cannot use the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, the warning says.

Any firm marketing cryptoassets to UK consumers must also comply with FCA rules on crypto promotions, which have applied since 8 Oct 2023. Overseas firms are included.

Fomo in the European Union

Every firm providing crypto-asset services to EU clients must hold authorisation under MiCA, the EU's crypto law. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) states that the transitional period ended on 1 Jul 2026.

MiCA excludes services provided in a fully decentralised manner with no intermediary, as a Malta Financial Services Authority discussion paper notes. No MiCA authorisation is cited in Fomo's terms.

Perpetual futures sold to retail clients likely fall under national limits on contracts for difference, ESMA said on 24 Feb 2026. These are leveraged contracts that pay the change in an asset's price. The limits cap leverage and prevent losses from exceeding the deposit.

Robinhood Tokens are not closed to EU residents. According to Fomo's terms, Robinhood Europe UAB assigns the tokens its highest risk rating, and buyers using Fomo receive no appropriateness test.

Fomo in Canada and Switzerland

Only Robinhood Tokens are barred for Canadian and Swiss residents. In Canada, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), the council of provincial regulators, said on 12 Dec 2022 that offshore platforms accessible to Canadians are regarded as operating in the country. Platforms that give the CSA undertakings may not offer Canadian clients margin or leverage.

Fomo in Australia

Fomo's terms do not mention Australia. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) gave digital asset businesses until 30 Sep 2026 to apply for an Australian financial services licence where their products qualify as financial products. A new licensing regime for digital asset platforms begins on 9 Apr 2027.

Upcoming rule changes that affect Fomo access

Changes to Fomo's restrictions can take effect overnight. New terms apply as soon as they are posted, and continued use counts as acceptance.

• UK rules for apps and protocols: The FCA set 30 Sep 2026 as the opening date for crypto authorisation applications. The regime takes force on 25 Oct 2027, with an October consultation due to address certain technology providers and decentralised protocols.
• US perps through registered firms: Access to Payward's planned market would be limited to customers signed up by a registered US broker.

The risks of trading on Fomo under these restrictions

Traders can lose all the margin they put into a leveraged perps position. As losses approach that amount, the exchange forcibly closes the position through a process called liquidation. Our liquidation price calculator shows that level for any entry price and leverage.

Losses can also exceed the initial margin, Fomo's terms warn. If an exchange's insurance fund runs short, it may forcibly reduce a profitable position through auto-deleveraging. Perps holders also pay or receive funding, a regular payment between traders betting on a rise and those betting on a fall. Our dashboard lets you compare funding rates across six exchanges, including Hyperliquid.

Using Fomo from a restricted country, or trading perps as a US person, breaches the terms and can result in account closure without notice. Users can view and export their wallet's private keys under Section 6, which matters if access to the app is withdrawn.

New York law governs disputes, which can be sent to individual arbitration. Class actions are waived, and claims are barred after one year. Stock token holders face a separate risk: the terms warn that issuer insolvency could wipe out their full value, with no investor compensation scheme available.