A Singapore crypto licence is a MAS licence under the Payment Services Act for Digital Payment Token services: SPI for capped volumes, MPI above them.
A Singapore crypto licence is granted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) under the Payment Services Act 2019 for Digital Payment Token (DPT) services, as a Standard Payment Institution (SPI) or a Major Payment Institution (MPI) licence. An SPI needs S$100,000 in base capital and stays within S$3 million a month for one payment service or S$6 million across two or more; an MPI needs S$250,000 in base capital plus security of S$100,000 or S$200,000. For an MPI, MAS charges SGD 1,500 per payment service on application and SGD 10,000 per service a year; an SPI pays SGD 5,000 a year. MAS publishes no processing target: it has licensed 37 DPT providers from close to 300 applications, and recent licensees took a median of about six months from in-principle approval to licence, so plan for about two years from first conversation to live operations. Tokens that are capital-markets products need a separate analysis. Protegra prepares the MAS file, from €85,000 for an MPI.
| Item | Figure | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Regulator | Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) | Payment Services Act 2019 |
| Licence | SPI or MPI covering Digital Payment Token services | Payment Services Act 2019 |
| Base capital | S$100,000 (SPI); S$250,000 (MPI) | Payment Services Regulations 2019 |
| MPI security | S$100,000 or S$200,000, by payment-volume category | Payment Services Regulations 2019 |
| MAS fees (MPI) | SGD 1,500 per payment service on application; SGD 10,000 per service a year | Payment Services Regulations 2019, The Schedule |
| DPT licences | 37 licensed from close to 300 applications | MAS written parliamentary reply, 5 August 2026 |
| Realistic time | About six months from in-principle approval to licence; about two years to live operations | Recent licensees, checked 23 Sep 2026 |
Sources: Payment Services Act 2019; Payment Services Regulations 2019, The Schedule; MAS written reply to a parliamentary question, 5 August 2026; recent MAS licensees, checked 23 September 2026.
A Singapore MAS application is not won by producing more documents. It is won by making the business model, board, local management, financial projections, AML framework, ICT controls, and client-asset arrangements work together before MAS starts testing the gaps. Protegra builds the company MAS expects to see: the right licence route, Singapore governance, capital and security planning, AML/CFT, custody controls, and technology-risk framework—so authorisation becomes the foundation for an operating business, not just a line on your website.
We turn a Singapore MPI application into a business that can operate after approval.
Start your applicationnot separate legal, governance, and compliance workstreams. We work across exchange, custody, transfer, brokerage, advisory, portfolio management, trading platforms, AML, technology risk, Travel Rule controls, and capital-markets classification.
A crypto business can look like one thing commercially and fall into a different regulatory category once custody, wallet control, exchange activity, order flow, transfer services, or platform functionality are assessed. We define the service scope before the capital, security, and application architecture are fixed.
A Singapore company needs more than a registered office and named directors. MAS expects a governance structure that can demonstrate effective management, clear responsibilities, suitable key people, and meaningful oversight of the regulated activity. We structure the board, management responsibilities, AML ownership, risk, compliance, and decision-making around the business you will actually operate.
Technology-risk governance, cybersecurity, outsourcing, incident response, access controls, business continuity, and third-party risk do not begin after authorisation. We build the controls around your product, systems, providers, and transaction model before the file is submitted.
A Major Payment Institution applicant must maintain at least S$250,000 in base capital. An MPI must also provide security of S$100,000 (€69,000) or S$200,000 (€138,000), depending on the relevant payment-volume category.
An SPI is subject to payment-volume thresholds, including S$3 million per month for one payment service and S$6 million per month across two or more payment services, subject to the applicable rules.
Singapore’s headline corporate-income-tax rate is 17%. The tax treatment of trading profits, token activity, and other income depends on the nature of the business and the applicable tax rules.
You can build a credible crypto business, complete the AML policies, and still be treated as an unacceptable risk by the banks, payment providers, and institutional counterparties you need to scale. Singapore is different because MAS does not offer an easy crypto registration. It applies a full payments and financial-services standard to Digital Payment Token businesses. That makes the route demanding—but it also makes a properly structured MPI licence meaningful to the counterparties reviewing your business. The MPI licence matters. But the company behind it must also work as an operating, governance, banking, and investor structure after authorisation.
DPT classification and capital-markets classification are separate analyses. A business may need to consider more than one regulatory track.
An SPI may suit a smaller or pilot-stage business that provides regulated DPT services while remaining within the applicable payment-volume thresholds.
The SPI route is subject to limits, including S$3 million per month for one payment service and S$6 million per month across two or more payment services, subject to the applicable rules.
An MPI is generally the route for a DPT business that needs to operate above the SPI payment-volume thresholds.
An MPI requires base capital of S$250,000 (€172,500), plus security of S$100,000 (€69,000) or S$200,000 (€138,000), depending on the applicable payment-volume category.
A token may fall within the Securities and Futures Act if its legal and economic features make it a security, debenture, unit in a collective investment scheme, or derivative.
From 30 June 2025, Singapore-incorporated entities providing certain digital-token services solely to customers outside Singapore require a licence under the Financial Services and Markets Act. MAS has stated that such licences will be granted only in extremely limited circumstances, and a Singapore-incorporated company should not assume that serving foreign clients removes the need for licensing.
The MPI capital and security requirements are only part of the Singapore project. A realistic Year 1 estimate includes legal preparation, MAS service-based fees, Singapore entity setup, board and key personnel, AML/CFT, technology and ICT security, accounting, audit, banking readiness, and ongoing operations.
One licence, three levels — the regulator asks for exactly the same file in all three, and what changes is how much of it sits with you. The middle level is the default here, and the estimate below is built on it.
Moving up or down changes our fee and nothing else — not the capital, not the state fees, not the statutory clock. Carrying a file to the decision is not a promise of approval: no adviser can give one, and an adviser who does is selling you something other than advice.
A Singapore MPI project is staged so that service scope, capital, security, governance, local management, AML, technology, banking preparation, and application evidence develop in the right order. On timing: MAS publishes no processing target. It has received close to 300 digital-payment-token applications and licensed 37 providers (MAS written parliamentary reply, 5 August 2026). Recent licensees took a median of about six months from in-principle approval to licence, after nine to twelve months of review, so plan for about two years from first conversation to live operations. Checked 23 September 2026. The timings below are indicative, not a promise.
We map the services the company intends to provide:
We then determine the appropriate licence route, capital and security category, MAS fee scope, target markets, initial company structure, and governance design.
The Singapore company or eligible branch is established and the registered office is secured.
The governance structure is designed around effective management and accountability, including:
We prepare the full MAS application package: Every document is built from the facts you give us: we describe the business you actually run, in the depth a supervisor reads it at.
The completed application is submitted to MAS with the appropriate fees.
The authority receives one consistent picture of the company: the product, ownership, board, financial plan, client safeguards, AML controls, technology environment, and operating model must all align.
MAS reviews the application for completeness.
If material is missing or incomplete, MAS can request additional information.
After the application is complete, MAS conducts a substantive assessment.
In practice, application readiness, information requests, governance questions, complex custody or platform features, technology controls, and document revisions can affect the total project timeline.
After authorisation, the company can activate its priority markets and payment relationships.
The business then moves into live operations with its AML, technology, governance, custody, client-protection, reporting, and banking arrangements working from day one.
Authorisation is the beginning of supervised operations. We remain involved as the business moves from regulatory readiness to daily regulated activity.
Transaction monitoring, customer-risk review, sanctions controls, suspicious-activity escalation, and policy updates.
ICT risk management, incident response, vendor oversight, cybersecurity, access controls, operational resilience, and evidence maintenance.
Review of custody arrangements, client disclosures, crypto-asset information, marketing materials, complaints handling, and service changes.
Regulatory reporting, material-change notifications, supervisory communication, and support for expansion into additional markets.
Singapore has financial-services infrastructure, but an MAS application is still a detailed operating assessment. The most expensive delays occur when the licence scope, board, local management, AML controls, technology framework, banking plan, and tax structure are treated as separate projects.
See how we workA business can appear to be a simple exchange while its real model includes custody, client-wallet control, transfers, execution, or platform functionality. Each of those elements can affect the licence route, capital and security category, MAS fee scope, governance requirements, and documentation required.
A registered office and named directors do not automatically demonstrate effective management. MAS may assess whether responsibilities are clear, directors are fit and proper, decisions are made through the right governance structure, and key functions have genuine authority.
The real project timeline includes entity formation, capital and security planning, management appointments, AML documentation, technology readiness, outsourcing evidence, clarification requests, and remediation.
Authorisation does not automatically produce a bank account, payment institution relationship, fiat settlement route, or reliable client-money process.
No. ICT governance, cybersecurity, outsourcing, incident response, and operational resilience are central to the application and remain ongoing obligations after approval.
Singapore’s headline corporate-income-tax rate is 17%. The tax treatment of trading profits, token activity, and other income depends on the nature of the business and the applicable tax rules.
Select a challenge to see how a Singapore MAS project moves from an application question to an operating regulated business.
“The real project timeline includes entity formation, capital and security planning, management appointments, AML documentation, technology readiness, outsourcing evidence, clarification requests, and remediation.”
“The file was prepared to reduce avoidable gaps before MAS identified them.”
“Authorisation does not automatically produce a bank account, payment institution relationship, fiat settlement route, or reliable client-money process.”
“Banking and payment dependencies were addressed alongside the regulatory project, so the business was not authorised before it was operationally ready.”
“Technology-risk governance, cybersecurity, outsourcing, incident response, access controls, business continuity, and third-party risk do not begin after authorisation.”
“The controls were built around the product, systems, providers, and transaction model before the file was submitted.”
Reference: Virtual asset service provider (non-MiCA) licences compared in the Licensing Atlas.
Leave your details and we will assess your business model, likely MAS service scope, Singapore governance requirements, and the first steps toward authorisation.
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