singapore

A man in Singapore was sentenced to two years in prison for assisting a former colleague in illegally transferring and laundering approximately 8.83 million Singapore dollars (about 6.5 million US dollars) in cryptocurrency assets.The case revealed that three former employees, after leaving due to disputes, hacked into the cryptocurrency trading platform SafeX, a subsidiary of their former company DLT Ltd, and transferred funds in three transactions between June and August 2025. The individuals involved received the funds through their wife's account, converted them multiple times into Bitcoin and the stablecoin USDT, and dispersed them into multiple wallets to conceal their flow. Some of the funds have been cashed out for personal expenses. One individual involved is still at large.

The Singapore Exchange today welcomed its first ETF tracking local gold reserves—the LionGlobal Physical Gold ETF officially listed, with the underlying gold purity not less than 99.5%. Previously, this fund was opened to retail and institutional investors on the over-the-counter platform about four months ago.Singapore's move echoes the strategy of its competitor Hong Kong: Hong Kong has signed a gold clearing agreement with the Shanghai Gold Exchange and plans to build a vault with a capacity of over 2,000 tons within three years. However, as both regions expand their gold investments, gold prices are under pressure and falling, with U.S. gold futures dropping from over $5,400 per ounce on March 2 to as low as $4,100.Analysts point out that Iran's control over the Strait of Hormuz is driving up energy prices, exacerbating inflation expectations, and prompting central banks to delay easing monetary policy. Market logic has shifted from risk aversion to inflation, interest rates, and liquidity, putting continued pressure on gold.

According to CoinDesk, Ripple is piloting its RLUSD stablecoin in the Monetary Authority of Singapore's BLOOM sandbox.The pilot is conducted in collaboration with supply chain company Unloq and will test automated cross-border trade payments triggered by goods verification on the XRP Ledger.

Ripple announced its participation in the BLOOM program under the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), where it will test a cross-border trade financing automatic settlement solution powered by the stablecoin RLUSD within the regulatory sandbox.Ripple is collaborating with supply chain fintech company Unloq to build a condition-triggered payment system based on the XRP Ledger—when preset conditions such as goods verification are met, the system will automatically release RLUSD payments, replacing the cumbersome processes in traditional trade financing that rely on manual verification, letters of credit, and correspondent banking relationships, significantly compressing the settlement period from several days or even weeks.

Singapore stablecoin payment infrastructure company dtcpay has completed a $10 million Series A financing round, led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India.dtcpay has obtained a Luxembourg electronic money institution license to expand regulated payment services in the European Economic Area.

The Singapore-based stablecoin payment infrastructure company Dtcpay announced the completion of a $10 million Series A funding round, led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India.The company has obtained a Luxembourg electronic money institution license to expand regulated payment services in the European Economic Area. Dtcpay builds stablecoin payment infrastructure for businesses and consumers and has partnered with Visa to launch a card that connects digital finance with traditional finance. Its platform supports real-time settlement between stablecoins and fiat currencies.

According to Decrypt, Chinese citizen Zhang Xinghua was sentenced to two years in prison by a Singapore court for conspiring to abuse computer systems and handling criminal proceeds in connection with a theft of approximately $6.9 million at the SafeX cryptocurrency exchange.Prosecutors stated that he conspired with two other accomplices, one of whom, Chen Chong Xin, who is still at large, accessed the SafeX crypto vault without authorization three times between June and August 2025, transferring over $6.9 million to multiple wallets. He then laundered part of the funds through Tornado Cash, depositing over $1.6 million in two transactions, which could have yielded over $886,000 in profits, but police intervened to stop it.The case came to light after the SafeX system triggered a low balance alert. Singapore has frozen or seized approximately $2.1 million in related crypto assets, while about $4.8 million remains unrecoverable in offshore private wallets or with virtual asset service providers. Court hearings revealed that Zhang Xinghua returned approximately $95,000 in Bitcoin through his wife. Another accomplice in the case is still under investigation.

According to Bloomberg, Bridge Data Centres (BDC) plans to invest up to SGD 5 billion (approximately USD 3.9 billion) in its home market of Singapore for the development of artificial intelligence technologies, aiming to accelerate its business growth in Asia.BDC CEO Eric Fan stated that the private company will invest in research projects and facilities, focusing on advanced power architecture, next-generation cooling systems, AI-driven operations, and energy optimization for high-density computing environments.

According to Cointelegraph, Japan's financial group SBI Holdings plans to acquire a majority stake in the Singaporean cryptocurrency exchange Coinhako to further deepen its layout in the cryptocurrency field.The announcement stated that SBI Holdings' wholly-owned subsidiary SBI Ventures Asset has signed a letter of intent with Coinhako's parent company Holdbuild to inject capital into Coinhako and acquire shares from existing investors.If the transaction is completed, SBI Holdings will obtain a majority stake in Coinhako, making Coinhako a consolidated subsidiary; however, the transaction is still subject to regulatory approval. The financial terms and ownership details of the acquisition have not been disclosed, and the investment structure and share purchase plan are still under discussion. This non-binding transaction will allow SBI to obtain a legitimate license in Singapore, which is one of Asia's major regulated cryptocurrency hubs.

According to market news, Japan's financial group SBI Holdings announced that its subsidiary plans to acquire a majority stake in the Singapore digital asset trading platform Coinhako, pending regulatory approval.The transaction includes providing investment capital and purchasing shares from existing shareholders. Coinhako holds a license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and is regulated by the British Virgin Islands, having operated in the digital asset space for over a decade. The acquisition aims to integrate Coinhako's infrastructure with SBI's global financial network to develop a digital asset ecosystem in Asia. An SBI representative stated that this move aligns with its strategy to expand digital asset infrastructure and develop next-generation financial services.Coinhako CEO Yusho Liu stated that the company plans to enhance its infrastructure to meet the growing demand for tokenized assets and stablecoins, while Singapore will continue to serve as a key hub.

According to Jinshi News, influenced by the rising expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut, the Singapore dollar has slightly appreciated against the US dollar during the Asian trading session. Data released on Thursday showed that US job openings in December fell to a new low since 2020, and initial jobless claims unexpectedly rose.Analysts say that the labor market's renewed softness has reignited bets on rate cuts, with the swap market now pricing in a 30% chance of a rate cut in March, up from 10% on Monday. LSEG data shows that the US dollar has fallen 0.1% against the Singapore dollar, quoted at 1.2738.

Singapore cryptocurrency company Penguin Securities announced the completion of approximately 2.8 billion yen (about 18 million USD) in financing, with investors including mint, Tokyo University of Science Investment Management Company, and several other Japanese investment institutions.The company was co-founded in 2023 by Japanese entrepreneurs Yuya Kuratomi, Kentaro Kawabe, and Shogo Setoguchi, and has obtained a Capital Markets Services License from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in 2025.

According to Jin Ten, during the Asian trading session, the Singapore dollar against the US dollar maintained a sideways consolidation, but the prospect of the Federal Reserve possibly keeping high interest rates for a longer period may put it under pressure.Analysts from CIMB International Treasury and Market Research pointed out that, given inflation remains high, Federal Reserve Governor Bowman and Richmond Fed President Barkin have both signaled that further rate cuts may take longer.

Singapore Gulf Bank (SGB) has announced an upgrade to its multi-currency real-time clearing network SGB Net, adding stablecoin settlement capabilities. Institutional clients will be able to trade, mint, convert, hold, and transfer stablecoins, including Circle's USDC and Tether's USDT, within a single regulatory infrastructure, with these stablecoins operating on blockchains such as Ethereum and Solana.SGB CEO Shawn Chan stated: "Stablecoins have become the working capital of the digital asset economy, but managing them remains overly complex." This upgrade positions SGB as the default bank for managing fiat and multiple stablecoins within a single regulatory infrastructure. The bank currently processes approximately $2 billion in fiat transaction volume each month.The service includes compliance checks such as KYC, KYB, and AML, with digital asset custody and trading security provided in partnership with Fireblocks. According to DefiLlama data, the current total market size for stablecoins is approximately $304.9 billion. The network is expected to be open to clients in the first quarter of 2026. Singapore Gulf Bank is supported by Whampoa Group and Mumtalakat and is regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain.

The Algorand Foundation announced on Wednesday that it will relocate its headquarters from Singapore back to the United States and form a new board of directors. This move follows the Jito Foundation's return to the U.S. from the Cayman Islands last week.Both organizations stated that the shift in U.S. cryptocurrency policy towards a more friendly approach was a key factor in their return. Algorand Foundation CEO Staci Warden said that this move aims to ensure U.S. leadership in next-generation financial infrastructure, focusing on instant global payments, the democratization of financial products, and enhancing economic resilience.This decision comes as the U.S. Senate Banking Committee is set to vote on landmark cryptocurrency legislation. Jito Labs CEO previously pointed out that after President Trump took office, U.S. cryptocurrency policy underwent a 180-degree shift, creating a favorable environment for crypto companies to return.

According to Ming Pao, the Hong Kong-listed company China Carbon Neutrality (1372) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Global Carbon Asset Management Co., Ltd has compliant custody, issuance, and distribution of a total of 500 million Carbon Coins, using 500,000 tons of carbon credits certified by the Verified Carbon Standard ("VCS") as the underlying asset through the licensed digital asset trading platform DigiFT in Singapore.

According to market news, the People's Bank of China and eight other departments issued the "Opinions on Financial Support for Accelerating the Construction of the New Land-Sea Corridor in the West."The "Opinions" propose to explore international cooperation in digital finance. Support provinces (regions, municipalities) along the route to participate in the multilateral central bank digital currency bridge project, promoting the use of central bank digital currencies for cross-border payments with Thailand, Hong Kong, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and others. Support the exploration of advancing the pilot program for cross-border payments of digital renminbi between the mainland and Singapore. Support provinces (regions, municipalities) along the route with conditions to build cross-border e-commerce digital service platforms, connecting with cross-border e-commerce and trade digital platform companies in countries like Singapore to enhance cross-border e-commerce service capabilities.

According to Jinshi Data, the People's Bank of China and eight other departments issued the "Opinions on Financial Support for Accelerating the Construction of the New Land-Sea Corridor in the West." The "Opinions" propose to explore international cooperation in digital finance.Support provinces (regions, municipalities) along the route to participate in the multilateral central bank digital currency bridge project, promoting the use of central bank digital currencies for cross-border payments with Thailand, Hong Kong, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and others. Support the exploration of a pilot program for cross-border payments using digital renminbi between the mainland and Singapore. Support provinces (regions, municipalities) along the route with conditions to build cross-border e-commerce digital service platforms, connecting with cross-border e-commerce and trade digital platform companies in countries like Singapore to enhance cross-border e-commerce service capabilities.

According to Xinhua Finance, under the joint guidance of the Digital Currency Research Institute of the People's Bank of China and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Singapore Branch, with the support of its head office, has actively implemented the results of the digital renminbi cooperation announced by the China-Singapore Bilateral Cooperation Joint Committee (JCBC) this year, and recently successfully launched an innovative pilot for overseas top-ups of digital renminbi personal wallets.Singaporean tourists only need to register a wallet on the digital renminbi client, and they can complete digital renminbi top-ups through the personal mobile banking of ICBC Singapore Branch using accounts opened at ICBC Singapore Branch, enabling convenient payments for transportation, tourism shopping, dining, and accommodation within China.