Crypto license in Singapore: MAS DPT licence requirements (2026)

Phase 3 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 took effect, requiring Singapore-incorporated entities that provide digital token services solely to overseas customers to obtain a DTSP licence from MAS. MAS set a deliberately high bar, it will generally not issue licences given elevated ML/TF risks and limited overseas supervisory reach, making this primarily an anti-regulatory-arbitrage measure aligned with FATF virtual-asset standards.

MAS published its response to consultation feedback on the DTSP framework under the FSMA 2022 and released finalised Guidelines on Licensing for Digital Token Service Providers, clarifying the boundary between the PSA (domestic DPT services) and FSMA (overseas-only DPT services) regimes. The clarification resolved ambiguities for cross-border operators and confirmed that existing unregistered DTSPs must cease activity by 30 June 2025.

Amendments passed by Parliament in January 2021 came fully into operation, extending PSA regulation to crypto custody services, DPT transmission between accounts, and facilitation of cross-border DPT transfers even where no funds touch Singapore. MAS simultaneously introduced mandatory customer-asset segregation, conflict-of-interest controls, and financial-stability requirements on DPT service providers, the most comprehensive consumer-protection upgrade to the PSA since its 2020 commencement.

MAS published its response to the October 2022 consultation on regulatory measures for DPT services, confirming phased requirements from mid-2024 covering technology risk, business conduct, conflict-of-interest management, and expanded AML/CFT obligations, operationalising the framework that would take force with the April 2024 PSA amendments.

MAS issued prohibition orders against Zhu Su and Kyle Livingston Davies, founders of collapsed crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, barring them permanently from regulated financial activities in Singapore. The action followed 3AC's US$3.5 billion insolvency in 2022 and MAS's prior reprimand for false AUM disclosures, signalling that enforcement extends to individual executives.

MAS announced binding requirements for single-currency stablecoins (SCS) pegged to SGD or any G10 currency issued in Singapore, covering reserve-asset composition, at-par redemption within five business days, and minimum capital of S$1 million. Only fully compliant issuers may label their tokens 'MAS-regulated stablecoins', one of the first such dedicated stablecoin regimes globally.

MAS issued Guidelines PS-G02 (Provision of DPT Services to the Public) and PS-G03 (Consumer Protection Measures), requiring DPT providers to conduct risk assessments before onboarding retail clients, prohibit retail use of credit and leverage for crypto trading, segregate customer assets, and restrict public-facing marketing, the main retail-investor guardrails ahead of the 2024 PSA amendment commencement.

MAS issued Guideline PS-G02 prohibiting DPT service providers from advertising in public spaces, ATMs, billboards, public transport, or to the general public; providers may only market on their own websites, apps, and official social media. Triggered by rapid retail uptake post-pandemic and the Terra/LUNA collapse, this was the most direct step to limit retail exposure to crypto marketing.

MAS publicly reprimanded Singapore-registered Three Arrows Capital for exceeding its S$250 million AUM cap as a Registered Fund Management Company and providing false information to MAS; 3AC subsequently collapsed with over US$3.5 billion in liabilities and became a catalyst for tightened enforcement and retail-protection rules across the entire sector.

Parliament passed the FSMA, creating a new licensing regime for digital token service providers incorporated in Singapore but serving only overseas customers, closing a FATF-identified regulatory gap where Singapore-incorporated VASPs could operate without domestic oversight. The Act also consolidated MAS's administrative and enforcement powers over all financial entities.

Parliament expanded the PSA to regulate crypto custody, DPT transmission between accounts, and cross-border digital-asset transfers even where no funds are received in Singapore; it also empowered MAS to impose AML/CFT, user-protection, and financial-stability requirements on DPT service providers, foundational for the 2024 enforcement regime.

Singapore's landmark PSA commenced, establishing one of the world's first comprehensive licensing regimes specifically for digital payment token service providers; it created a single activity-based framework for exchanges, brokers, and wallet providers and required MAS licensing for any entity facilitating DPT trading or transfer in Singapore.

MAS warned eight digital token exchanges not to facilitate trading in security-type tokens without SFA authorisation, and directed one ICO issuer to stop its token sale because the tokens constituted equity interests requiring a registered prospectus; the first formal multi-party enforcement actions applying existing securities law to the crypto sector.

MAS issued its inaugural regulatory guidance on ICOs, clarifying that digital tokens constituting securities or futures contracts under the Securities and Futures Act require a registered prospectus and intermediary licences before being offered in Singapore. This established Singapore's founding regulatory philosophy: apply existing law to tokens rather than leave a vacuum, while inviting compliant innovation.