Crypto license in Singapore

Licensing regimeLast reviewed 2026-08-24

Do you need a crypto license in Singapore?

Yes. A crypto exchange in Singapore is licensed as a payment institution providing digital payment token services under the Payment Services Act, and the licence is genuinely hard to get: 37 firms hold one against close to 300 applications made.

Read this before you plan an application

The approval rate is roughly one in eight: 37 licences against close to 300 applications, with most of the remainder rejected or withdrawn. Treat a Singapore licence as an outcome to earn rather than a step to schedule.

Singapore's reputation is for being demanding rather than expensive, and the numbers bear that out. MAS Chairman Gan Kim Yong told Parliament on 5 August 2026 that out of close to 300 applications there were 37 licensed digital payment token service providers, and that most of the rest had been rejected or withdrawn once applicants realised they could not meet the requirements. The application fee is trivial next to almost every other jurisdiction here. The bar is the review, and MAS's own guidance says the current waiting period is more than a year and that it cannot give a better estimate.

Regime: Licensing regime
Regulator: Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)
Framework: Payment Services Act (2019)
Application fee: Low by comparison, in the hundreds to low thousands of Singapore dollars depending on the licence class
Minimum capital: SGD 100,000 for a Standard Payment Institution, SGD 250,000 for a Major Payment Institution
Time to license: MAS states the current waiting period is more than a year and that it cannot give a better estimate. Budget twelve to twenty four months, and note that MAS may put an application judged not ready for review on hold for a further six months.
Foreign owners: Foreign ownership is permitted and common among licensees, but the applicant must be a Singapore-incorporated company with a permanent place of business, at least one executive director resident in Singapore, and a compliance function MAS can supervise.

The framework

Crypto exchanges are regulated under the Payment Services Act 2019 as providers of digital payment token services. The licence is a payment institution licence, and the tier depends on transaction volumes: a Standard Payment Institution below the thresholds, a Major Payment Institution above them. Most crypto businesses of any size are looking at the Major tier.

What it costs, and what it actually costs

Application fees are low, in the hundreds to low thousands of Singapore dollars. That figure is close to irrelevant to the decision. The base capital requirement is SGD 100,000 for a Standard Payment Institution and SGD 250,000 for a Major Payment Institution, and the real expense is building an operation that survives MAS review.

The timeline, honestly

MAS's own licensing FAQ states that the current estimated waiting period is more than a year and that it is unable to give a better estimate. Any published range with a nine month floor is not coming from MAS.

One mechanism worth knowing about: under the revised Guidelines on Licensing for Payment Service Providers, in force since 8 October 2025, MAS may place an application it judges not ready for review on hold for a further six months, and that hold is not extendable. A material change to the business model, shareholding or key management during the review can trigger it.

Who holds one

Licensees include Coinbase Singapore, Crypto.com Singapore, Independent Reserve, Sygnum, Anchorage Digital, Paxos and Circle. One name is commonly reported wrongly: the Singapore licensee is HashKey's OTC arm, HashKey Technology Services, not HashKey Exchange, which is a separately licensed Hong Kong entity. An OTC desk and a retail exchange are different propositions, and the same caution applies to reading Sygnum's licence as a retail on-ramp.

What to watch

The approval rate is the fact to hold on to. Roughly one application in eight has resulted in a licence. A plan that assumes Singapore approval is a plan with a low base rate behind it.

License classes in Singapore

License classes, the activities each covers, and their fees and capital requirements where published.
Class	Covers	Fee	Capital
Standard Payment Institution	Payment services including digital payment token services, below the prescribed transaction thresholds	Not published	SGD 100,000
Major Payment Institution	Payment services including digital payment token services, above the thresholds. The tier most crypto exchanges need	Not published	SGD 250,000

What the application requires

Singapore-incorporated company with a permanent place of business
At least one executive director resident in Singapore
Base capital matching the licence class
Anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing controls MAS can supervise
Fit and proper directors, shareholders and key personnel
Technology risk and cyber hygiene arrangements
Custody and asset segregation arrangements for client digital payment tokens

The application process

Incorporate and staff
Singapore company, permanent place of business, resident executive director
Build the compliance operation
MAS reviews what you actually have, not what you plan to build
Apply to MAS
For a Standard or Major Payment Institution licence covering digital payment token services
Review
More than a year on MAS's own estimate, with a possible six month hold if the file is judged not ready
Licence granted
The firm appears in the MAS financial institutions directory

Costs and taxation

Singapore inverts the usual cost shape: the fee is among the lowest here and the process among the most expensive, because the cost is the compliance build and the year or more of review rather than anything payable to MAS.

Singapore's corporate income tax rate is 17 percent, with partial exemptions on the first tranches of chargeable income and a start-up exemption for qualifying new companies in their first three years.

Who is licensed today

MAS publishes a financial institutions directory that can be filtered to digital payment token services, and it is the authoritative live list. As at 5 August 2026 there were 37 licensed digital payment token service providers.

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Frequently asked questions

How many crypto companies are licensed in Singapore?

37 licensed digital payment token service providers, as MAS told Parliament on 5 August 2026, out of close to 300 applications.

How long does a MAS crypto licence take?

MAS says the current waiting period is more than a year and that it cannot give a better estimate. MAS may also put an application judged not ready on hold for a further six months.

What capital do I need for a Singapore crypto licence?

SGD 100,000 for a Standard Payment Institution and SGD 250,000 for a Major Payment Institution, which is the tier most exchanges need.

Is a Singapore crypto licence hard to get?

Yes. Roughly one application in eight has resulted in a licence, and MAS says most of the rest were rejected or withdrawn when applicants realised they could not meet the requirements.

Does HashKey hold a Singapore licence?

HashKey's OTC arm does. HashKey Exchange is a separately licensed Hong Kong entity, so the two should not be read as the same business.

Sources

Buying bitcoin as an individual is a different question entirely: how to buy bitcoin in Singapore covers exchanges, payment methods and legality for residents, and the crypto license hub compares every jurisdiction we track.