Singapore regulates digital payment token services under the Payment Services Act 2019, with licences held as a Standard or Major Payment Institution granted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore; most crypto firms hold the MPI class. Two newer layers sit alongside: the DTSP regime under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 commenced on 30 June 2025, requiring Singapore firms serving only overseas customers to be licensed, with MAS stating it will generally not issue such licences and providing no transition, and a finalised stablecoin issuer framework remains in legislative drafting. MAS revoked one MPI licence in May 2026.
MAS sits at the top of LicenceMap's difficulty scale as one of the most selective crypto licensors anywhere. The headline base capital is modest, with a security deposit lodged alongside, and the regulator's application fee is small. The real cost sits elsewhere: a mandatory legal opinion, an independent external AML audit and a full compliance build, which together dominate the all-in spend. There is no binding clock for DPT cases, and the process is a slow one, decided at the regulator's discretion.
Substance requirements include a Singapore-incorporated company with a permanent local office, a resident executive director, an appointed compliance officer and fit-and-proper directors, chief executive and controllers. The conduct perimeter is tight: no advertising of DPT services to the Singapore public, no crypto ATMs, and consumer measures in effect since June 2025 that ban incentives and credit-card funding and require a risk test. Client assets sit on statutory trust, and lending or staking of retail tokens is not permitted. The licence is national only, as Singapore belongs to no passporting bloc, and ongoing obligations include an annual per-service licence fee, AML and technology risk notices, periodic returns and an annual audit.