Crypto exchange Singapore: 4 MAS-licensed exchanges checked

A crypto exchange in Singapore needs a licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to offer digital payment token services, and you can check that licence yourself in MAS’s Financial Institutions Directory. On 23 October 2026 the directory listed 38 major payment institutions licensed for digital payment token service, including the Singapore companies of Coinbase, Gemini and OKX, and Foris DAX Asia, the entity name Crypto.com uses in other markets. This page explains what that licence means, how to check any platform before you deposit, and what the four exchanges we review charge according to their own fee pages. The crypto market can fall sharply, and you can lose all the money you put in.

What is a MAS approved crypto exchange?

A MAS approved crypto exchange is, in practice, a company licensed by MAS under the Payment Services Act to provide a digital payment token service. MAS doesn’t rank or endorse exchanges: it licenses and supervises them, and a licence says nothing about whether bitcoin or any other coin will rise or fall.

The Payment Services Act was passed by Parliament on 14 January 2019 and is the law behind payment licences in Singapore. Its expanded scope of regulated activities commenced on 4 April 2024. “Digital payment token” (DPT) is the term MAS uses for cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ether, and “digital payment token service” is the licensed activity you look for when you check a crypto platform.

The Act has two main licence types for payment companies:

• Major payment institution. MAS describes these as firms that provide any combination of regulated payment services regardless of transaction volume, and that face more comprehensive regulation. For example, a major payment institution must comply with requirements to protect customer money.
• Standard payment institution. A licence for smaller operations, with less comprehensive regulation.

When people search for a “Singapore approved crypto exchange”, they usually mean a major payment institution with the digital payment token service on its licence. That is the filter we used.

How to check a crypto exchange in Singapore

You check a crypto exchange in Singapore by finding its exact legal entity in the MAS Financial Institutions Directory, with “Digital Payment Token Service” listed as an activity. It won’t tell you whether a coin is a good buy, but it lets you deposit with more confidence that a supervised company is on the other side.

MAS’s directory itself warns that scammers may impersonate MAS-regulated financial institutions. Only contact an exchange through its official app or website, and never through a link sent to you on a messaging app.

MAS regulated cryptocurrency exchanges in Singapore we review

Four cryptocurrency exchanges we review have a Singapore entity licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for DPT service. The table shows what the MAS directory listed on 23 October 2026.

We ordered them by how directly we could match the licence to the brand, then by published fees. It is not the result of testing the Singapore apps.

1. Coinbase Singapore

Coinbase is the most direct match: the licensed company carries the brand name. Coinbase is a publicly listed company in the US, so it publishes quarterly financial statements that are audited once a year. The catch is cost: its published entry tier on Coinbase Advanced is 0.60% maker and 1.20% taker, level with Gemini as the highest of the order-book exchanges we track, and simple buys add a spread. Read our Coinbase review for the full picture.

2. Crypto.com Exchange and app

Foris DAX Asia Pte. Ltd. appears in the MAS directory without a brand name or website. We match it to Crypto.com because Crypto.com’s MiCA-licensed EU company is Foris DAX MT Limited, and regulators in Dubai and Canada list other Foris DAX companies under the Crypto.com brand. Check the company name in the app’s terms before you sign up.

It runs two products with different pricing: the app (instant buy with a fee plus spread) and the exchange (an order book). On the exchange, published spot trading fees start at 0.25% maker and 0.50% taker. Singapore dollars (SGD) are among the fiat currencies it lists. More in our Crypto.com review.

3. OKX SG

OKX SG Pte. Ltd. is licensed for DPT service, and its MAS entry points to okx.com/en-sg. OKX suits users who want an order book and more trading tools. We only verified OKX’s fees for EU users, which don’t apply in Singapore, so check the fee page on the Singapore site. Our OKX review covers the global platform and its EU licence.

4. Gemini

Gemini Digital Payments Singapore, Pte. Ltd. appears in the MAS directory with gemini.com as its website. Gemini closed all its UK, EU and Australian accounts in April 2026 but kept serving the US and Singapore, and it lists the US dollar and Singapore dollar as fiat currencies. The downsides: a smaller coin list (65+ assets on its supported list) and an ActiveTrader entry tier of 0.60% maker and 1.20% taker. See our Gemini review.

Other licensed crypto platforms in Singapore

The MAS directory also includes companies we don’t review yet. Coinhako (SBI Coinhako Technology) is one of the local names; others include Independent Reserve SG, Upbit Singapore, Bitstamp Asia, Blockchain.com (Singapore), Revolut Technologies Singapore, Moomoo Financial Singapore and PayPal. Being on the list means they hold the licence, not that we have assessed their fees or apps.

Cryptocurrency exchange fees in Singapore: what we could confirm

Trading fees on these crypto exchanges range from 0.25% to 1.20% per trade at the entry tier, based on the providers’ main fee pages we checked on 23 October 2026. The Singapore entity can price differently, so treat these numbers as a starting point and confirm them on the Singapore fee page.

The sum is simple: a market order pays the taker fee, so SGD 1,000 × 1.20% = SGD 12, and SGD 1,000 × 0.50% = SGD 5. A limit order that waits in the order book usually pays the lower maker fee.

Three other costs matter as much as trading fees:

• Spread on simple buys. Instant buy screens build a spread into the price on top of any fee. Coinbase, Crypto.com and Gemini all do this, according to the fee information we checked.
• Payment methods. In every fee schedule we checked (EU and US), paying with credit cards or debit cards cost more than a bank transfer. Crypto.com’s EEA schedule, for example, charges 3.99% for card deposits and nothing for SEPA transfers. We couldn’t verify Singapore deposit methods, so check what each exchange charges for bank transfers in SGD.
• Withdrawals. Moving bitcoin to your own wallet costs a network transaction fee, which each exchange sets and changes with network conditions.

How to buy crypto in Singapore through a licensed exchange

Buying crypto in Singapore through a licensed exchange comes down to four steps: check the licence, verify your identity, fund your account and place the order. The details differ per app, so follow the exchange’s own help pages for each step.

• Check the licence in the MAS directory, as described above.
• Verify your identity. Licensed platforms must check who you are, a process known as KYC, usually with an ID document and a selfie.
• Fund your account with Singapore dollars using a payment method the exchange lists, and compare its fee with paying by card.
• Place the order. A limit order on the spot trading screen shows you the exact price and fee before you buy bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies; an instant buy adds a spread.

Buying crypto peer to peer from strangers, for example in chat groups, means no licensed company stands between you and the seller, so you carry all the risk if the trade goes wrong.

Does a MAS licence protect your money?

A MAS licence means the exchange is supervised and must follow rules such as protecting customer money and running anti-money laundering checks. It gives investors a supervised company to deal with, but it does not protect you against falling prices, and crypto and other digital assets held on an exchange are not a bank deposit.

If an app offers leverage, margin or perpetual futures, remember that most retail traders lose money with those products. For more on how licences work across countries, see our crypto regulation glossary entry.

Popular exchanges that weren’t on the MAS list

Kraken, Binance, Bybit, KuCoin, Bitget, Gate, eToro and MEXC did not appear among the major payment institutions licensed for DPT service on 23 October 2026. MEXC’s own terms exclude users in Singapore, along with Hong Kong, mainland China, the US and other countries.

If you use an exchange that isn’t licensed in Singapore, you have no Singapore regulator to turn to if it freezes your account or fails. Check the MAS directory again before you act, because the list changes.

What this means for readers in Europe

A Singapore licence does not allow an exchange to serve EU residents: in the EU, crypto exchanges need a licence under MiCA. Of the four exchanges above, Coinbase, Crypto.com and OKX also hold MiCA licences for the EU, while Gemini closed its EU accounts in April 2026. If you are moving to or from Europe, compare our best crypto exchanges in the Netherlands and read how we rank providers.