Singapore Reclaims Top Spot in Crypto Economy as Regional Activity Contracts

Singapore's crypto activity rose significantly in the year ended June 2026, growing by 55.4% to $284 billion. This growth bucked a regional contraction of 6.8%, making Singapore the largest crypto economy in Central and Southeast Asia and Oceania (CSAO) once again.

The increase was largely driven by institutional platform activity, which saw a surge of 94% to $60 billion. However, this growth was concentrated among a small number of market makers, over-the-counter trading firms, and institutional brokerages, rather than the entry of new services.

Chainalysis noted that Singapore has been working to tighten crypto regulation while supporting tokenization, stablecoins, and digital-asset settlement. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) required local crypto firms serving overseas clients to obtain a license or exit in 2025, which reduced speculative activity but left more institutional players using blockchain in production.

In contrast, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam saw growing small-value peer-to-peer (P2P) activity. The three countries recorded a combined 5.4 million P2P transfers worth less than $10,000 during the reporting period, representing 14.4% of the global total.

Stablecoins also played a significant role in the region's crypto economy. Cross-border stablecoin activity exceeded domestic activity in every market analyzed, with cross-border activity 3.2 times larger than domestic activity. Thailand and Vietnam hosted sizable domestic stablecoin markets, while cross-border stablecoin activity was significantly larger.