- Singapore’s crypto economy grew 55.4% to US$284 billion (AU$409 billion) in the year to 30 June, the largest in Central & Southeast Asia and Oceania, according to Chainalysis.
- Activity on institutional platforms in Singapore rose 94% to US$60 billion (AU$86.4 billion), with most of it concentrated among a small number of market makers, OTC desks and institutional brokerages.
- Australia ranked second at US$173.1 billion (AU$249.3 billion), with total activity down 5.6% and activity on institutional platforms up 33.3%.
Singapore was the largest crypto economy in Central & Southeast Asia and Oceania in the year to 30 June, Chainalysis said on Wednesday.
Its crypto activity grew 55.4% to US$284 billion (AU$409 billion) over that period, according to the blockchain analytics firm’s regional report. The region as a whole contracted 6.8%.
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Institutional Platforms Drive Growth
Much of Singapore’s growth came from institutional platforms. Their activity rose 94% to US$60 billion (AU$86.4 billion). That compares with growth of 19% for the rest of the region and 15% for the rest of the world.
Chainalysis said a small number of market makers, over-the-counter trading firms and institutional brokerages handled much of that activity. Beyond institutional platforms, flows into Singapore’s centralised exchanges rose 30%, and flows into decentralised exchanges climbed 69%.
Daniel Yang, head of compliance at Singapore trading firm QCP Group, told Chainalysis the city-state has strengthened its digital asset rules step by step. He pointed to its Digital Payment Token licensing regime and its stablecoin framework.
Singapore also took in more cross-border crypto than it sent. Its cumulative net inflow reached about US$5 billion (AU$7.2 billion) by mid-2026.
Australia Ranks Second
Australia was the region’s second-largest crypto economy at US$173.1 billion (AU$249.3 billion). Its total activity fell 5.6%, largely on a drop in decentralised exchange flows.
Institutional-platform activity moved the other way, rising 33.3% to US$39.92 billion (AU$57.5 billion). Those platforms took 24.8% of all service inflows in Australia. Market makers accounted for 35% of the institutional inflows, and custody and collateral providers for 26%.
BTC Markets head of risk and compliance Nicolas Gilardi credited a boom in products that suit traditional investors, such as retirement accounts and ETFs. “The defining shift in 2026 is that crypto stopped being a retail story. 2025 was about who was buying”, he said.
Digital Economy Council of Australia CEO Amy-Rose Goodey pointed to two rules that have lifted institutional confidence. One is the 2026 expansion of anti-money laundering rules to more crypto providers. The other is ASIC’s licensing regime for digital asset and tokenised custody platforms, due to start in 2027.
Ahead of that regime, crypto businesses relying on ASIC’s no-action relief had until 30 September to apply for an Australian financial services licence.
Chainalysis counted about 2 million cross-border stablecoin transfers from Australia in 2025–26, up from roughly 100,000 in 2021–22. Their value reached slightly more than US$3 billion (AU$4.3 billion) over the same year. Bitcoin transfers fell to just over 1 million from their 2023–24 peak.
Across the region, cross-border stablecoin activity exceeded domestic activity in every market the firm analysed.
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