Singapore’s crypto economy expanded sharply in the year ended June 2026, even as the wider Central and Southeast Asia and Oceania (CSAO) region contracted. Activity in the city-state rose 55.4% to $284 billion, restoring Singapore’s position as the region’s largest crypto economy, according to Chainalysis reporting cited by Cointelegraph.
Institutional trading drives Singapore’s expansion
The main source of Singapore’s growth was institutional-platform activity, which climbed 94% to $60 billion. The activity was concentrated among a relatively small group of market makers, over-the-counter trading firms and institutional brokerages.
Chainalysis said the increase largely reflected high-volume transactions by platforms already operating in Singapore, rather than a broad influx of new crypto services. That distinction suggests the headline growth was driven by deeper activity among established participants rather than by a rapidly expanding number of providers.
“The growth in Singapore’s institutional platform ecosystem was very concentrated and marked by mostly high-volume activity by existing platforms rather than the dynamic entry of new services,” Chainalysis told Cointelegraph.
Singapore’s result contrasted with the broader CSAO market, which declined 6.8% during the same period. The regional figures place Singapore’s institutional growth against a wider backdrop of contraction, making its return to the top position particularly notable.
Singapore has simultaneously been tightening oversight of the crypto industry while supporting selected digital-asset applications. In 2025, the Monetary Authority of Singapore required local crypto companies serving overseas customers to secure a license or leave the market. Tianwei Liu, chief executive of StraitsX, said the policy reduced speculative activity but left a greater proportion of institutional participants, including banks and large companies using blockchain in production.
The regulator has also backed initiatives involving tokenization and settlement. Its BLOOM program supports trials involving regulated stablecoins and tokenized bank money. On March 25, Ripple joined the program to test cross-border trade settlement using RLUSD.
Smaller transfers expand across three markets
Singapore’s institutional profile differed from activity in the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, where Chainalysis identified substantial growth in small-value peer-to-peer, or P2P, transfers.
Together, the three countries recorded 5.4 million domestic and cross-border P2P transfers worth less than $10,000 during the reporting period. That represented 14.4% of the global total, despite the three markets accounting for only 2.5% of the global crypto economy.
More than four in five domestic P2P transfers in those countries were below $1,000. Their average value was $618, compared with $1,210 in the rest of the world.
The use cases differ across the markets. In the Philippines, the International Monetary Fund has said authorities view crypto activity as being driven mainly by remittances and investment. World Bank data show that personal remittances equaled 8.5% of the country’s gross domestic product in 2025.
In Vietnam, P2P channels have become an important route between local bank accounts and crypto traded on overseas exchanges. The Vietnamese dong is not widely supported in direct crypto trading pairs, while most crypto traders in the country rely on overseas exchanges, according to reporting referenced in the source material.
Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission said in September that it had observed a significant increase in the volume and value of stablecoin transactions, particularly those involving USDT.
Cross-border stablecoins outpace domestic activity
Stablecoins are digital tokens designed to maintain a stable value relative to an underlying asset, commonly a fiat currency. Chainalysis found that cross-border stablecoin activity exceeded domestic activity in every market it analyzed. Across the region, cross-border activity was 3.2 times larger than domestic activity.
Chainalysis attributed the growing role of stablecoins plausibly to their ease of use, speed and low transfer costs. Thailand and Vietnam recorded sizable domestic stablecoin markets worth $10.4 billion and $6.9 billion, respectively, although cross-border activity was significantly larger in both countries.
The Philippines is also exploring stablecoins for remittance settlement. Nichel Gaba, chief executive and founder of crypto exchange PDAX, estimated that stablecoins are used for 5% to 10% of inbound remittances and said major remittance companies are pursuing settlement initiatives in the country.
In July, the Bank of the Philippine Islands disclosed plans for a stablecoin settlement pilot for overseas payments to Filipino freelancers and remote workers. The stated aim is to reduce the cost and processing time associated with those payments.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar market data at 09:18 on October 1, 2026, showed the following:
- OriginTrail (TRAC): $0.476075372, up 12.95% over 24 hours and 32.51% over seven days.
- Four (FORM): $0.2883023656, down 0.74% over 24 hours and 0.2% over seven days.
- Loaded Lions (LION): $0.0015460405, up 2.1% over 24 hours and 4.2% over seven days.
Moneyiar data for Billions Network (BILL), recorded at 01:39 on September 21, 2026, showed a price of $0.0139971939, a 0.59% 24-hour decline and a 10.04% seven-day gain.
