Licensed exchanges, brokers and custodians
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The first full licences for digital payment token services were granted in late 2021 to Independent Reserve, an Australian-founded exchange, and to DBS Vickers, the brokerage arm of DBS Bank. Through 2022 and 2023 MAS added the Singapore entities of several international groups. Crypto.com received a major payment institution licence in June 2023, Circle's Singapore entity in June 2023 and Coinbase Singapore in October 2023, following in-principle approvals granted in the preceding year. Blockchain.com and Ripple received licences in 2023, and GSR, the market maker, in 2024. In 2024 and 2025 the list grew to include OKX's Singapore entity, Upbit Singapore, BitGo, Anchorage Digital and Gemini among others.1 Domestic firms licensed in the same period include Coinhako, the payments firms Fomo Pay and Triple-A and StraitsX, which issues the Singapore-dollar stablecoin XSGD. Paxos Digital Singapore received a major payment institution licence in 2023 and uses it to issue the Global Dollar stablecoin USDG.
| Firm (Singapore entity) | Licence | Year | Business |
|---|---|---|---|
| Independent Reserve | MPI (DPT) | 2021 | Exchange |
| DBS Vickers | MPI (DPT) | 2021 | Brokerage for DBS Digital Exchange members |
| Coinhako | MPI (DPT) | 2022 | Retail exchange |
| Crypto.com | MPI (DPT) | 2023 | Exchange, cards |
| Circle Internet Singapore | MPI (DPT, e-money) | 2023 | USDC issuer group |
| Coinbase Singapore | MPI (DPT) | 2023 | Exchange, institutional |
| Blockchain.com | MPI (DPT) | 2023 | Exchange, wallet |
| Ripple Markets APAC | MPI (DPT) | 2023 | Cross-border payments |
| Paxos Digital Singapore | MPI (DPT, e-money) | 2023 | Stablecoin issuer (USDG) |
| StraitsX | MPI (DPT, e-money) | 2023 | Singapore-dollar stablecoin XSGD |
| GSR Markets | MPI (DPT) | 2024 | Market making |
| OKX SG | MPI (DPT) | 2024 | Exchange |
| Upbit Singapore | MPI (DPT) | 2024 | Exchange |
| BitGo Singapore | MPI (DPT) | 2024 | Custody |
| Anchorage Digital Singapore | MPI (DPT) | 2024 | Custody |
| Gemini | MPI (DPT) | 2024–2025 | Exchange |
| Sygnum Singapore | CMS, MPI (DPT) | 2019 / 2024 | Asset management, brokerage |
| HashKey Capital Singapore | CMS | 2022 | Fund management |
The table shows three things. The licensed exchanges are overwhelmingly the Singapore arms of global groups, which reflects MAS's preference for applicants with capital, compliance history and a parent that can be held responsible. The custody specialists arrived after the 2024 expansion of the perimeter brought custody within the licence. The stablecoin issuers hold both the digital payment token and the e-money authorisations, because a fiat-pegged token is e-money under the Payment Services Act while the services around it are digital payment token services, a boundary Part K, Chapter I explains.
Sygnum deserves separate mention because it embodies the dual-hub model this book describes. Founded in 2017 with offices in Zürich and Singapore, it obtained a Swiss banking and securities dealer licence from FINMA in August 2019 and a Singapore capital markets services licence for asset management in the same year. It later added a Singapore major payment institution licence. A client of Sygnum can hold tokens with a Swiss bank subject to the Banking Act (BankA; BankG) and invest through a Singapore manager subject to the Securities and Futures Act, within one group.2 Part P, Chapter IV uses the structure as a template.
Notes
- Coinbase Singapore's major payment institution licence announced on 2 October 2023 per Fintech News Singapore, "Coinbase Singapore Receives Major Payment Institution Licence from MAS" (2 October 2023); other dates in this paragraph from the MAS Financial Institutions Directory and the licensees' own announcements. ↩
- FINMA licensing of Sygnum Bank AG as a bank and securities dealer announced on 26 August 2019; Sygnum Pte Ltd's capital markets services licence for fund management granted by MAS in 2019; the major payment institution licence of Sygnum Singapore from the MAS Financial Institutions Directory. ↩
For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of October 2026.