Licensing under the Payment Services Act
Singapore regulates digital payment token (DPT) services through the Payment Services Act, administered by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Firms dealing in or facilitating the exchange of DPTs, and providing custody in scope of the regime, require a licence. MAS publishes the list of licensed and exempt payment services providers, which is directly checkable.
MAS has been publicly clear that a licence addresses money-laundering, technology and, increasingly, consumer-protection risk — and that it does not protect consumers from losses arising from the price volatility of the tokens themselves. That distinction is stated by the regulator itself rather than being an inference.
Retail access and marketing
Singapore has moved deliberately against retail speculation while remaining open to institutional and infrastructure activity. Measures have included restrictions on advertising DPT services in public spaces and through third parties, prohibitions on incentives to trade, restrictions on offering credit or leverage to retail customers for DPT purchases, and customer-suitability assessments.
The practical effect for a resident is that promotional behaviour common in other markets is not permitted here, and that a service available elsewhere may decline Singapore retail customers.
Custody and segregation
MAS has introduced requirements around the segregation and safekeeping of customer assets by licensed DPT service providers. This followed a period in which several large offshore failures demonstrated what commingling produces in an insolvency.
Tax
Singapore does not levy capital gains tax, so an individual disposing of tokens held as an investment generally has no gain to report. Where activity amounts to carrying on a trade, profits are income and taxable accordingly — and that characterisation depends on the facts of frequency, financing and intention rather than on any declaration by the taxpayer. IRAS publishes its guidance on the income tax treatment of digital tokens.
Sources
- Monetary Authority of Singapore, Payment Services Act and digital payment token services (1 Jan 2026)
- Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, Income tax treatment of digital tokens (1 Jan 2026)
Not legal or tax advice. This is a summary of published rules, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; check the primary sources linked above.
Last reviewed by Conisec Staff. Review cadence: Quarterly.