Singapore's Offshore-Only Crypto Ban: MAS “Will Generally Not Issue a Licence”

The short version: since 30 Jun 2025, Singapore firms that serve only customers outside Singapore need a licence as digital token service providers (DTSPs) under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022. MAS's words: “MAS has set the bar high for licensing and will generally not issue a licence” (MAS, 6 June 2025). Firms serving customers in Singapore were already regulated, and nothing changed for them.

What MAS Said

• “From 30 June 2025, DTSPs providing services solely to customers outside of Singapore relating to digital payment tokens and tokens of capital market products will need to be licensed.”
• “The money laundering risks are higher in such business models and if their substantive regulated activity is outside of Singapore, MAS is unable to effectively supervise such persons.”
• Existing offshore-only providers “will be required to cease this activity when the regime comes into effect on 30 June 2025”. MAS added: “Based on available information, we are aware of a very small number of such providers.”
• Services for tokens “only used as utility and governance tokens” are outside the regime (MAS).

Licensing Before the DTSP Regime

In a 2021 parliamentary reply, MAS said it had received over 480 licence applications under the Payment Services Act, around 170 of them for DPT services; 30 DPT applications had been withdrawn “after engagement with MAS” and two rejected, and around 90 DPT providers were operating under a transitional exemption (MAS). Today 38 companies hold the licence (list, read 21 Oct 2026).

The two figures are from different dates and are not a funnel: firms that applied after 2021 are not in the 2021 numbers.