Singapore | Crypto

MAS found deficiencies in Bsquared’s risk management and conflict-of-interest policies, and that the firm had provided false or misleading information to the regulator on multiple occasions. Singapore’s central bank has pulled the crypto payment license of Bsquared Technology Pte. Ltd., stripping the firm of its right to provide digital payment token services after uncovering a series of breaches. In a Wednesday announcement, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said it revoked Bsquared’s Major Payment Institution Licence after an on-site inspection found weaknesses in the company’s risk management practices and conflict-of-interest policies, as well as failures to comply with the regulator’s outsourcing guidelines. MAS said Bsquared provided false or misleading information on multiple occasions, from its initial license application through the inspection itself. Read more

OpenAI is opening its first overseas applied AI lab in Singapore through a $234 million partnership expected to create more than 200 technical roles. OpenAI is opening its first applied AI lab outside the US in Singapore through a multiyear partnership with the Ministry of Digital Development and Information, backed by more than $234 million. The AI company said Tuesday that the new lab will add more than 200 technical roles over the next few years, making Singapore one of OpenAI’s global hubs for Forward Deployed Engineers (FDE), or technical specialists who work directly with organizations to implement AI systems. “Through OpenAI for Singapore, we want to help more organisations benefit from frontier AI, support the next generation of local AI talent, and widen access to these tools across the country,” Denise Dresser, the company's chief revenue officer, said. Read more

Approximately 49,000 workers were laid off in 2026 as companies adopted a more AI-reliant business model. Meta has reportedly begun cutting staff in Singapore as the company executes a plan to reduce employee numbers by 8,000 to lean more heavily on AI.  Emails were sent out at 4 a.m. Singapore time to affected employees, and staff in the US and Europe were also expected to be notified that morning, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Meta’s engineering and product teams are expected to be hit hardest.  Meta is one of several Big Tech firms cutting staff while investing heavily in AI infrastructure in an effort to streamline operations and reduce costs. An estimated 49,135 layoffs have occurred at US companies in 2026 as a result of AI integration.  Read more

Singapore is embracing real world use cases for digital assets, not retail crypto speculation, says StraitX CEO Tianwei Liu.

A Singapore court ordered OneKey founder Wang Lei and an X user to stop threatening or defamatory claims tied to a dispute over the 2025 Resupply exploit. A Singapore court has ordered two crypto industry figures to stop making threatening or defamatory statements against a Curve-linked contributor following a dispute tied to a 2025 decentralized finance exploit. In a March 24 order seen by Cointelegraph, Singapore’s Protection from Harassment Court prohibited crypto wallet OneKey’s founder Wang Lei and the user behind the X account “web3feng” on X from posting statements alleging fraud or spreading false information about the claimant, identified in court documents as the pseudonymous Curve contributor known as “Haowi Wong” on X. The development follows online accusations that emerged after the June 2025 exploit of stablecoin protocol Resupply, which resulted in about $9.6 million in losses. Those accusations ended up in formal legal action being taken.  Read more

Ripple joins Singapore’s BLOOM cross-border trade finance sandbox scheme, Bhutan continues its massive Bitcoin sell off: Asia Express

Singapore's MAS unveiled a full gold trading hub initiative on March 27, 2026 — covering sovereign vaulting, OTC clearing, and a new SGX ETF. Here's what it means for gold prices and crypto infrastructure plays. The post Gold Price Analysis: Singapore To Tap Gold Ecosystem appeared first on Cryptonews.

Ripple joined the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s BLOOM initiative with Unloq to test RLUSD and XRPL for programmable cross-border trade settlement in Singapore. Financial technology company Ripple said Wednesday it had joined the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) BLOOM initiative with supply chain finance technology firm Unloq to test programmable cross-border trade settlement using the XRP Ledger and Ripple USD. The pilot will use Unloq’s SC+ smart-contract-driven trade finance infrastructure, which integrates trade obligations, settlement conditions and financing workflow into a single execution layer. The pilot will also utilize Ripple’s XRP Ledger (XRPL) and its stablecoin designed for enterprise use cases, Ripple USD (RLUSD), the announcement states. MAS launched BLOOM, short for Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online, Multi-currency, in October 2025 to extend settlement capabilities using tokenized bank liabilities and regulated stablecoins. Read more

Japan’s SBI Holdings has signed a letter of intent to buy a controlling stake in Singapore-licensed crypto exchange Coinhako. Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings is moving to deepen its presence in the crypto sector, announcing plans to take a controlling position in Singapore-based exchange Coinhako. In a Friday announcement, the Tokyo-listed firm said its wholly owned subsidiary, SBI Ventures Asset, has signed a letter of intent with Coinhako’s parent company, Holdbuild, to inject capital into the business and purchase shares from existing investors. If completed, the transaction would give SBI Holdings a majority stake and make Coinhako a consolidated subsidiary, subject to regulatory approval. “Bringing Coinhako into the SBI Group as a consolidated subsidiary is not merely an investment in a single platform,” chairman and CEO Yoshitaka Kitao said, describing the acquisition as part of a broader effort to build international infrastructure for digital assets, including tokenized securities and sta...

Singapore’s MAS has widened Ripple’s MPI license scope, enabling regulated token services, end-to-end payments and major growth across Asia-Pacific. MAS has expanded Ripple’s MPI license, allowing the company to offer a much wider range of regulated payment services and marking a notable regulatory milestone for the company’s operations in Singapore. Ripple first secured a full MPI license in 2023, enabling digital payment token services but limiting comprehensive end-to-end payment capabilities until the restrictions were removed in the 2025 expansion. The upgraded license now permits full cross-border payment processing, regulated XRP and RLUSD services, liquidity solutions, on/off-ramps and enterprise-grade settlement tools under Singapore’s strict oversight. Read more

Japan is quietly preparing the most pro-crypto shift of any G7 nation. According to multiple reports from local media, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) is drafting a sweeping reclassification of digital assets that would bring Bitcoin, Ethereum, and around 100 other tokens under the same umbrella as stocks and investment funds. If the plan moves […] The post Japan’s 20% crypto tax sets a new bar in Asia, pressuring Singapore and Hong Kong as retail costs fall appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Survey results show that 61% of Singapore’s sophisticated investors value trust over low fees, reflecting a growing preference for reliability and transparency in financial services. The post 61% of Singapore’s Finance-Savvy Investors Choose Trust Over Low Fees: Survey appeared first on Cryptonews.

Survey data points to cautious allocations, long-term holding and a preference for regulated platforms as Singapore’s retail market continues to mature. Singapore’s retail crypto market is entering a new phase of maturity, as traders are increasingly prioritizing trustworthy platforms over those with lower fees, according to a new survey. On Thursday, a joint survey by finance platform MoneyHero and crypto exchange Coinbase revealed that 61% of “finance-savvy” investors in Singapore now hold crypto, with trust emerging as their primary deciding factor for selecting exchanges, outranking fees. The data suggests that the city-state’s crypto ecosystem is evolving beyond chasing the cheapest exchange to placing value on regulated frameworks, security and long-term conviction. Read more

SGX is aiming to capture rising institutional crypto demand by launching the second set of Bitcoin and Ether perpetual futures products in Singapore. Singapore’s main derivatives exchange will introduce two new cryptocurrency futures products this month, citing rising institutional interest in digital assets. SGX Derivatives is launching Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) perpetual futures, which are financial derivatives contracts enabling investors to bet on the spot price of the underlying asset without an expiration date. In a Monday announcement, SGX said it is launching new trading products to meet what it describes as the “rising institutional crypto demand, converging TradFi and crypto-native ecosystems.” Read more

Chia Der Jiun of the Monetary Authority of Singapore said that regulation is key to confidence as tokenization gains traction.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore says only fully regulated, reserve-backed stablecoins will qualify as settlement assets as Singapore prepares legislation and expands CBDC trials. Singapore’s central bank has signaled a forthcoming shakeout of unregulated stablecoins as the country moves to protect the integrity of assets within its financial ecosystem.  In a keynote speech at the Singapore FinTech Festival on Thursday, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Managing Director Chia Der Jiun warned that “unregulated stablecoins have a patchy record of keeping their peg.” “There has been a lot of attention on stablecoins. They are offered as open platforms, able to work across many different applications and use cases,” Chia said. “While agility is a strength, stability needs to be reinforced.” Read more

Scott Bessent met Prime Minister Lawrence Wong during the APEC 2025 summit, as world leaders gathered to address global growth, energy security and technology. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent praised Singapore’s leadership in stablecoin and digital asset adoption during a meeting with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Friday, according to an official readout from the US Department of the Treasury.  The discussion was held at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2025 summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, where world leaders are meeting to discuss global growth, energy security and technology. Bessent also told APEC leaders during the Economic Leaders’ Informal Dialogue that through their work with APEC economies, the US is “seeing record levels of capital being invested into advanced manufacturing and technology sectors.”  Read more

Scott Bessent met Prime Minister Lawrence Wong during the APEC 2025 summit, as world leaders gathered to address global growth, energy security and technology. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent praised Singapore’s leadership in stablecoin and digital asset adoption during a meeting with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Friday, according to an official readout from the US Department of the Treasury.  The discussion was held at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2025 summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, where world leaders are meeting to discuss global growth, energy security and technology. Bessent also told APEC leaders during the Economic Leaders’ Informal Dialogue that through their work with APEC economies, the US is “seeing record levels of capital being invested into advanced manufacturing and technology sectors.”  Read more

Singapore and the UAE rank as the world’s most crypto-obsessed countries amid high ownership, search activity and rapid adoption growth. Singapore and the United Arab Emirates rank globally as the most “crypto-obsessed” nations, according to a recent report by ApeX Protocol. Singapore claimed the number one spot with a composite score of 100, driven by 24.4% of its population owning crypto and leading the world in search activity, with 2,000 crypto-related queries per 100,000 people. In 2021, only 11% of Singaporeans held digital assets, but that figure more than doubled by the following year. Close behind, the UAE scored 99.7, ranking first globally for crypto ownership at 25.3%. The Gulf nation saw a 210% increase in adoption since 2019, with a significant boom in 2022 when over 34% of the population reported holding crypto. Read more

While Europe and the US debate AI and crypto rules, Singapore deploys live systems in hospitals and refines its crypto licensing through targeted enforcement. Opinion by: Zac Cheah, co-founder of Pundi AI The West is regulating itself into irrelevance. With Europe and the United States bogged down in committee meetings and legal drafts, Southeast Asia, specifically Singapore, is running live AI pilots in hospitals, refining crypto licensing through targeted enforcement, and attracting top global talent with a governance model that works. Singapore’s secret? A sandbox-first approach that treats innovation not as a threat, but as an opportunity to be carefully tested, not endlessly theorized. Read more