Singapore Crypto Licence — MAS DPT & DTSP

Overview

Singapore regulates crypto through the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) under two separate statutes. The Payment Services Act 2019 (PSA) licenses Digital Payment Token service providers. The Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 (FSMA), Part 9 of which commenced on 30 June 2025, captures Singapore-based persons and companies providing digital-token services exclusively to foreign clients. Together the two regimes leave no Singapore-linked crypto activity outside MAS supervision.

The practical picture in 2026: MAS has issued roughly 36 Major Payment Institution (MPI) licences authorising the DPT service out of more than 200 applications filed since the PSA commenced in January 2020. The DTSP regime, by design, will approve far fewer — MAS said in its official response to consultation that DTSP licences will be granted “only in extremely limited circumstances.” If your use case is an outbound-only service run from Singapore, expect to restructure rather than license.

The regulator — Monetary Authority of Singapore

MAS is Singapore's central bank and integrated financial regulator. Crypto licensing sits primarily in the Payments Policy Department and the Banking Department, which jointly handle DPT and DTSP policy. Formally the regulator is not adversarial — but its application-assessment standard has tightened year on year, especially around stored-value segregation (revised in 2023) and DTSP transition (no grace period was offered for entities caught by Part 9 on 30 June 2025).

Track 1 — Payment Services Act: Digital Payment Token service

The PSA regulates seven payment services. A crypto exchange or wallet operator typically provides the sixth — the Digital Payment Token (DPT) service — and must therefore hold either a Standard Payment Institution (SPI) or Major Payment Institution (MPI) licence. DPT cannot be authorised under the lighter Money-Changing Licence.

SPI vs MPI — threshold table

Operating above any of these thresholds moves a firm automatically into the MPI category.

Base capital and security deposit

The security deposit can be placed in cash with MAS or posted as a bank guarantee in prescribed form.

Track 2 — FSMA Part 9: Digital Token Service Provider

Part 9 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 was activated on 30 June 2025. It catches:

• Individuals or partnerships who, from a place of business in Singapore, carry on a business of providing digital-token services outside Singapore;
• Singapore-incorporated corporations (including LLPs) carrying on a digital-token-service business outside Singapore — whether the activity is physically conducted from Singapore or elsewhere.

The policy driver is FATF Recommendation 15 and its interpretive note, which require VASPs to be regulated where they are created. Before Part 9, a Singapore-incorporated company serving only non-SG clients could sit outside PSA — that regulatory arbitrage is now closed.

High-level application requirements

1. Singapore-incorporated Pte Ltd (or registered branch of a foreign corporation) with a permanent place of business in Singapore.
2. At least one executive director resident in Singapore.
3. A qualified Compliance Officer, resident in Singapore, with authority to halt activity.
4. AML/CFT programme aligned with MAS Notice PSN02, including independent AML audit.
5. Technology Risk Management framework aligned with MAS Notice PSN05.
6. Segregation of customer assets on a named, ring-fenced basis; MAS tightened these rules in 2023.
7. Travel Rule compliance (PSN02 Para 7 plus PSR 2019) with a SGD 1,500-equivalent threshold.
8. Base capital satisfied: SGD 100,000 (SPI) or SGD 250,000 (MPI).
9. Audited annual financial statements and ongoing MAS returns.
10. Fit-and-proper test for directors, CEO and substantial shareholders holding 20% or more.

Process and timeline

These are observed market timelines from 2023–2025; MAS does not publish a service-level commitment. MAS will normally request additional information two or three times during review, and we factor that dialogue into the envelope above.

Costs

Government fees (PSA, confirmed)

• Application fee: SGD 500 (Money-Changing, not applicable to DPT), SGD 1,000 (SPI) or the sum of per-service fees whichever is higher, SGD 1,500 (MPI) or the sum of per-service fees whichever is higher.
• Annual fees: roughly SGD 5,000 for an SPI and SGD 10,000 for an MPI across the full service set, scaling with the number of regulated services held.

DTSP-specific application fees under the FSM (Digital Token Service Providers) Regulations 2025 (S 342/2025) are prescribed separately. Verify the current figure through the MAS licensing page before budgeting.

Legal and consulting fees vary by complexity. For a first MPI filing covering DPT only, total external-fee budgets in the SGD 120,000–250,000 range are typical. Ready-made routes can compress the timeline; we cover these under ready-made company.

Taxation

• Corporate tax: flat 17%. Partial exemption applies to the first SGD 200,000 of chargeable income for SMEs.
• Territorial principle: foreign-sourced income that is not remitted to Singapore is generally outside tax.
• GST: 9% since 2024, applied to goods and services supplied in Singapore. Digital Payment Tokens are GST-exempt under the IRAS e-Tax Guide “GST: Digital Payment Tokens” (2020, revised).
• No dedicated crypto gains tax. Trading profits of a licensed entity fall inside corporate tax; long-term holdings by individuals are generally not taxed as capital gains.

FAQ