Chronicles of the Three Cities of Encryption

Author: Deep Tide TechFlow

Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai.

In the grand chessboard of the global cryptocurrency industry, these three cities are vying for industry discourse power and talent resources in different ways.

Singapore's strict regulations have stripped away the halo of its former utopia, Hong Kong's policy openness has sparked a wave of return, while Dubai has become an emerging crypto oasis with its "zero tax + open regulation" model.

These three crypto strongholds are dream habitats for the crypto industry, yet they now stand at a crossroads of fate. With regulatory iron fists, capital flows, and Web3 ambitions, who will emerge victorious in this "Three Cities Chronicle"?

Singapore: Once Flourishing

Singapore, the small island known as the "Lion City," was once a utopia in the eyes of countless crypto dreamers.

Today, the crypto scene in Singapore is shrouded in a "compliance fog."

In June 2025, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued a final interpretation requiring unlicensed digital token service providers (DTSP) to cease services to overseas clients by June 30, and even core teams involved in overseas projects based in Singapore must undergo MAS regulatory review.

With policies still unclear, anxiety has gripped the industry.

Subsequently, Singapore's MAS adopted a mix of soft and hard measures, soothing while being tough on offshore exchanges.

MAS released the latest interpretation stating that the main regulatory targets, Tokens, refer to so-called digital payment tokens and tokens of capital market products, namely payment tokens or equity tokens. Service providers of governance tokens and utility tokens are not affected by the regulations and do not need to apply for licenses.

Additionally, according to Bloomberg, Singapore regulators issued a final warning, urging major cryptocurrency trading platforms operating in the country without local licenses to exit swiftly.

According to Deep Tide TechFlow, many crypto exchanges based in Singapore have begun evacuation plans, gradually relocating core personnel to Hong Kong, Malaysia, and other places.

However, even before the policy panic, the trend of crypto practitioners fleeing Singapore had already begun.

"It's too expensive to stay," even seasoned crypto professional XIN feels that the cost of living in Singapore is excessively high.

"A decent apartment on Orchard Road costs about 5,000 SGD (25,000 RMB), and just this cost has caused headaches for many, but more importantly, it's become much harder to make money this year."

For crypto practitioner Adam, Singapore once attracted a large number of professionals due to its safety and institutional guarantees, and everyone could make money to cover costs, whether they were project parties, exchanges, or VCs, all could share in the bull market. However, this cycle seems to belong only to Bitcoin, with many altcoin projects crashing, crypto VCs losing their investments, and it seems more sensible to hoard Bitcoin and lie flat rather than stay in Singapore, which only increases costs and loses meaning.

Qin, who has lived in Singapore for several years, has also observed that in the past year, more and more industry people are leaving Singapore, with a noticeable phenomenon being that many previously active Singapore walking groups have fallen silent.

With the impact of this policy, many practitioners will continue to leave, so who will remain in Singapore?

1. Practitioners from licensed crypto companies. According to the MAS official website, 24 companies, including COBO, ANTALPHA, CEFFU, and MATRIXPORT, are on the exemption list, while 33 companies, including BITGO, CIRCLE, COINBASE, GSR, Hashkey, and OKX SG, have already obtained DTSP licenses.

2. Non-licensed practitioners, such as crypto VCs, KOLs, non-securities, and payment token project parties… However, most of these individuals are founders and executives, or have already obtained Singapore PR, settling down in Singapore.

In summary, Singapore has implemented its talent strategy, attracting a sufficient number of compliant and high-net-worth individuals.

Hong Kong: A Surge of Activity

Where is the new crypto hotbed after leaving Singapore?

Hong Kong and Dubai may be the two current answers.

After the final interpretation of DTSP in Singapore was announced, Hong Kong Legislative Council member Wu Jiezhuang promptly released a bilingual statement on social media, stating: "If you cannot continue your operations in Singapore and intend to move to Hong Kong, please contact me to learn more. We are willing to assist and welcome you to develop in Hong Kong!"

The night view of Victoria Harbour remains dazzling, but Hong Kong's financial story is ushering in a new chapter.

With the listing of Circle, Hong Kong's push for stablecoin regulation has drawn attention from various capital sources back to Lion Rock.

On May 21, 2025, Hong Kong's "Stablecoin Issuer Ordinance" was officially passed, requiring stablecoin issuers to be licensed and ensuring that reserve assets are 100% backed by highly liquid assets. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) even holds extraterritorial jurisdiction to regulate globally pegged stablecoins.

On June 12, Bloomberg reported that Ant Group's international department is planning to apply for a stablecoin license in Hong Kong.

In addition to increasingly clear and explicit crypto policies, compared to the past few years when it was once ridiculed as a "financial ruin," Hong Kong's macro environment is now experiencing unprecedented improvement.

Well-known financial media outlet Gelonghui shared several data points:

1. Hong Kong's residential rental levels have reached new highs;

2. The number of Americans in Hong Kong (a representative data point for foreigners in Hong Kong) has hit a new high. Before the pandemic, it was 85,000; after the pandemic in 2023, it dropped to 70,000, but the latest data has exceeded 85,000;

3. The application fee collected by Hong Kong University in a year (not admission, just the application fee) has reached 800 million.

LD CAPITAL founder Yi Lihua has lived and worked in both Singapore and Hong Kong for a long time, but he admits he prefers Hong Kong and plans to base himself there long-term.

"Hong Kong has many advantages, such as diverse cuisine, better climate, and closer proximity to the mainland, with more friendly policies. Additionally, it's much easier to obtain residency in Hong Kong than in Singapore; once you meet the duration requirement, you get it, while Singapore requires repeated applications. Staying forever in the land of China, I think it's a better choice to let future generations continue to be Chinese." Yi Lihua stated.

More and more crypto practitioners are choosing to relocate from Singapore to Hong Kong. According to insiders, TRON founder Justin Sun also moved to Hong Kong early on for long-term residency.

Comparing the rise and fall of popularity between the two cities, one clear indicator is the rental levels.

According to Midland Realty data, in May 2024, Hong Kong's residential rents rose for three consecutive months, reaching the highest level since 2019.

The Hong Kong Central Plains City Rental Index (CRI) reported 125.38 in May this year, soaring 1.32% month-on-month, marking the largest increase in nine months and just 2.05% below the historical high.

In contrast, in the first half of 2024, Singapore's premium private residential rents fell by 4.5%, the largest decline among 30 global cities.

Dubai: The "Shenzhen" of the Middle East

In addition to East Asia's Singapore and Hong Kong, Dubai, this "on-chain desert oasis," is rapidly reshaping the crypto power landscape.

"Zero personal income tax, corporate tax as low as 0-9%, relatively reasonable living costs, and more internationalization," said a practitioner who has lived and worked in Dubai for two years, listing the city's attractions. "More importantly, the regulatory authorities here truly understand and embrace crypto innovation."

In 2025, Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) further optimized regulatory rules, adopting a "sandbox-adapt-expand" model, providing clearer legal protections for virtual asset service providers (VASPs).

As early as 2024, Dubai had gathered over 1,400 blockchain startups, with a total valuation of $24.5 billion, forming a complete ecosystem that includes over 90 investment funds and 12 incubators.

According to Chainalysis data, Dubai's crypto industry contributes approximately 100 billion dirhams ($27.25 billion) in output value, accounting for 4.3% of the UAE's GDP.

In May 2025, the UAE's state-owned investment company MGX invested $2 billion in Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, signaling a clear message.

Veteran crypto investor Snow, who has lived in Dubai for a long time, stated that "opportunities abound" is her core reason for choosing Dubai. In her view, various aspects of the Middle East are not as well-developed as Singapore or Hong Kong, whether in terms of legal systems or infrastructure, many are lacking, but the less developed a place is, the more opportunities there are.

Dubai is like Shenzhen in the early 20th century, with people from all over flocking in, all for the initial dream------to make money.

"Besides local Middle Easterners, the majority of people in Dubai now are Europeans, Russians, Indians, and Chinese… everyone is here to do business and make money; once they have made enough, they either buy property in Dubai or return home."

Nancy, who resides in Dubai and was once a real estate agent, continues to witness the crazy rise of Dubai's real estate market. According to a recent report by global commercial real estate services firm CBRE, residential prices in Dubai rose by an average of 18% in 2024, and by the first quarter of 2025, this figure reached 20%.

Meanwhile, the new crypto elite has become a significant force supporting Dubai's real estate market.

"In recent years, many crypto millionaires from China have purchased a large number of properties in Dubai," Nancy stated.

Previously, Dubai's largest private real estate developer, Damac Properties, announced it would accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as payment for property sales.

Today, Dubai is also the most important testing ground for real-world assets (RWA) in real estate.

On May 1, Dubai's MultiBank Group, real estate giant MAG, and blockchain provider Mavryk signed a $3 billion RWA agreement, which will allow MAG's luxury real estate projects to enter the blockchain through a regulated RWA market.

On May 25, the Dubai Land Department (DLD), the Central Bank of the UAE, and the Dubai Future Foundation launched a tokenized real estate project in the Middle East and North Africa region. These government agencies introduced a platform allowing investors to purchase tokenized shares of "Dubai ready-to-own properties."

Due to its friendly regulations, Dubai is currently the base for many exchanges, with Binance being the largest cryptocurrency trading platform.

In Dubai and throughout the Middle East, Binance holds a relatively unique position.

"Binance serves as a very useful identity label in Dubai; former employees, companies invested by Binance, Binance partners… all serve as high-quality identity endorsements. Even if one doesn't have these connections, many people will still claim to know some Binance executives," Nancy explained. Perhaps it is also the aggregation effect brought by Binance that has led Dubai to become an important center for information and project resource trading in the crypto market, with many crypto projects' shell resources and other market-making activities being traded in Dubai.

In addition to exchange personnel, Dubai currently also gathers many well-known crypto KOLs, for example, the Coin Bureau studio with 2.68 million followers on YouTube is based in Dubai.

However, Dubai also faces its own challenges.

Extreme summer heat, cultural differences, limitations in banking services, and geopolitical uncertainties are all potential concerns. "Dubai is great, but it's not everyone's ideal choice," Nancy candidly stated, "Many people simply want to make money in Dubai, and once they've made enough, they leave. Dubai is not suitable for living; in contrast, Abu Dhabi has a more vibrant atmosphere."

Additionally, the cultural and time zone differences in Dubai may also pose obstacles to expanding into the Asian market. Dubai serves as a bridge connecting Europe, Asia, and Africa, while Hong Kong is the gateway to Asia, especially the Chinese market.

With Singapore tightening regulations, Hong Kong reviving its policies, and Dubai rising rapidly, the three crypto cities are forming a unique pattern: Hong Kong serves as the gateway to Asia, especially the Chinese market; Dubai is the intersection connecting Europe, Asia, and Africa; while Singapore may reposition itself as a more compliant and institutionalized crypto asset management center.

Whether it's the dazzling night view of Victoria Harbour, the magnificent skyline of the Burj Khalifa, or the modern architecture of Marina Bay in Singapore, the skylines of these cities witness the arrival of a new era of crypto finance.