Singapore’s cryptocurrency economy was estimated at $284 billion, up 55.4 percent over a year.

Cointelegraph reported on Sept. 30 (local time) that Singapore regained its status as the largest cryptocurrency economy in the Central and Southern Asia and Oceania (CSAO) region, diverging from the region’s 6.8 percent contraction over the same period.

Growth was driven by activity on institutional platforms. The volume of institutional platform activity rose 94 percent to $60 billion and was concentrated among a small number of operators, including market makers, over-the-counter (OTC) firms and institutional brokerages. Crypto analytics firm Chainalysis assessed that large trades on existing platforms, rather than inflows of new services, drove the growth.

Singapore has tightened regulation while adjusting policy to support tokenisation, stablecoins and digital asset payments. In 2025, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) required local crypto firms serving overseas customers to obtain licences or exit the market. Tianwei Liu (톈웨이 류), chief executive of StraitsX, assessed that the measures reduced speculative activity and instead left a structure in which institutional participants, including banks and large companies, use blockchain in real operating environments.

Tokenisation and payment experiments are also under way. MAS’ BLOOM programme supports tests using regulated stablecoins and tokenised bank deposits. Ripple joined the programme in March and decided to test cross-border trade payments using RLUSD.

In contrast, small-value peer-to-peer transactions stood out in the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The three countries recorded 5.4 million domestic and cross-border P2P transfers under $10,000 during the reporting period. That was 14.4 percent of the global total, but the three countries’ share of the global cryptocurrency economy was 2.5 percent.

More than 4 out of 5 domestic P2P transfers in the three countries were under $1,000. The average transfer was $618, below the rest-of-region average of $1,210. In the Philippines, crypto use was driven mainly by remittances and investment demand, and personal remittances in 2025 were about 8.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

In Vietnam, reliance on overseas exchanges increased demand for P2P trades to convert funds in local bank accounts into cryptocurrency. Stablecoin use also increased in Thailand. Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission said in September that stablecoin trading volume and trading value rose sharply, with Tether (USDT) use rising notably.

Stablecoin use was more active in cross-border transactions than domestically. In all surveyed markets, cross-border transaction volume exceeded domestic volume, and across the region it was 3.2 times domestic transactions. Domestic stablecoin transaction volume in Thailand and Vietnam was estimated at $10.4 billion and $6.9 billion, respectively.

Philippine lender Island Bank in July unveiled plans for a stablecoin payment pilot programme to reduce overseas remittance costs and processing times. As Singapore grows as an institution-led market, some Southeast Asian countries are showing different usage patterns centred on small-value P2P and stablecoins, with the region’s crypto market growth paths appearing to bifurcate.