The eighteen months that made the law

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Between July 2022 and the end of 2023 the General Division of the High Court, in almost every case through Aedit Abdullah J, dealt with five digital-asset insolvencies. They concerned a crypto lender (Vauld, through its Singapore entity Defi Payments Pte Ltd), a crypto exchange group (Zipmex), a yield platform (Hodlnaut), a hedge fund (Three Arrows Capital) and a crypto lending and asset-management group (Babel Finance). The cases arose from a single cause, the collapse of the Terra ecosystem in May 2022 and the cascading failures that followed. Together they tested every tool in the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (IRDA): the scheme moratorium under s 64, judicial management, winding up, the recognition of foreign proceedings under the UNCITRAL Model Law and the scheme of arrangement itself. This chapter reads the cases as a body and asks what they mean for the customer of a Singapore platform, for the platform's directors and for the Swiss creditor or Swiss group company caught in the proceedings.

The Swiss comparison runs through the chapter. Switzerland answered the customer-asset question by statute in 2021. Art. 242a DEBA gives the customer a right to the segregation of crypto assets that the bankrupt custodian held for him, provided they were either allocated individually or held collectively and readily attributable (see Part D, Chapter IV and Part H, Chapter VII). Singapore has no such provision. The customer's position depends on the terms of service, on the general law of trusts and, since 2023, on the segregation duties MAS imposes on licensed digital payment token service providers (see Part K, Chapter II). The Singapore cases therefore turned on contract interpretation in a way the Swiss cases do not.

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.

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Dr Alexander Ressos, TEP

Of Counsel, KGP Legal LLC

I am Of Counsel with KGP Legal LLC in Singapore, where I work with a global client base of successful entrepreneurs and their families, independent asset managers, commodity trading houses and other commercial clients. I am a German and Swiss attorney-at-law, also admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales and in Hong Kong. I divide my time between Zug in Switzerland, Singapore and Hong Kong. Since 2017 I have advised international clients on more than 700 crypto and digital asset projects. I also have extensive experience in cross-border litigation and arbitration in Singapore, Hong Kong and other markets in South-East Asia and Greater China.

I operate across the key financial centres in South-East Asia, the Middle East and Switzerland, with a particular focus on asset protection, international tax and estate planning, as well as trusts, company administration and other fiduciary services. My philosophy is to serve as a trusted advisor working closely with my clients and to help them achieve their commercial objectives.

All Singapore law advice is provided through KGP Legal LLC, an established and duly licensed firm of Singapore advocates and solicitors.

KGP Legal LLC is a medium-sized law firm in Singapore that is capable of providing the full range of legal services and corporate administration work. Please contact me directly at [email protected] if you need any further information.

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SingaporeIQ is edited by Dr Alexander Ressos, an international business lawyer with more than 15 years of local experience in Singapore as a permanent resident, a Singapore registered foreign lawyer and managing partner of a Singapore foreign law practice. In addition to significant experience in cross-border investments and transactions, UHNWI private client work and sanctions/export controls, Dr Ressos has extensive experience in cross-border business and in crypto and digital-asset projects in Singapore, drawn from more than 700 projects since 2017.

If you are planning a company incorporation, an investment, a holding structure or a market entry through Singapore, you can reach Dr Ressos directly at [email protected]. Singapore law advice is provided by KGP Legal LLC, a licensed firm of Singapore advocates and solicitors. As a Singapore law practice, KGP Legal LLC is authorised under the Legal Profession Act 1966 to advise on Singapore law and to represent clients before the Singapore courts; foreign law practices with an office in Singapore are, as a rule, not permitted to do either. Dr Ressos and his team facilitate the full range of Singapore legal, compliance and company administration services, including company incorporation, corporate transactions, commercial contracts, crypto and digital assets, financial regulatory work and dispute resolution, including litigation in the Singapore courts. For legal, tax and fiduciary services in Switzerland, see helveticaregister.com.