Crypto tie-ups heat up action in Singapore in areas of payment and stablecoin

SINGAPORE - The cryptocurrency scene in Singapore has been set abuzz this week with key events in town and a series of tie-ups, including in areas of payment, stablecoin and combating crypto crime.

Ahead of crypto conferences Token2049 and the Stablecoin Summit, Singapore-based cryptocurrency payment firm Triple-A on Sept 17 said DCS Card Centre’s cardmembers will be able to top up their virtual accounts with five digital assets from this week.

The five are Bitcoin, Ether, Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC) and PayPal USD.

With over half a billion cryptocurrency owners globally and 24.4 per cent of Singapore’s population holding digital currencies, the demand for crypto payment options continues to grow, Triple-A said.

Earlier in 2024, ride-hailing operator Grab introduced digital currency top-ups in a tie-up with Triple-A.

Another ride-hailing platform, Tada, has partnered The Open Network (TON) Foundation to allow passengers to pay for their rides with digital assets.

Tada launched a Telegram Mini App called Tada mini. It allows users to book rides directly within messaging app Telegram, the two said on Sept 12.

TON maintains it is separate from Telegram, but has access to the messaging app’s 900 million monthly users via a partnership. 

Separately, Standard Chartered’s fintech investment and ventures arm, SC Ventures, on Sept 17 said it has invested in a European crypto-asset exchange called One Trading.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but One Trading said it would use the investment to support the launch of the first crypto perpetual futures in the European Union, under the region’s regulatory framework.

On Sept 16, global payment firm Circle announced its collaboration with Sony Block Solutions Labs to allow a bridged version of stablecoin USDC to be a primary token on the Soneium blockchain.

USDC issued by Circle is the original or native version.

A bridged version of USDC is created by a third party. It paves the way for USDC to be upgraded to a native version in future.

Set up in Singapore in 2023, Sony Block Solutions Labs is an entity linked to Japanese conglomerate Sony Group. The entity developed the public blockchain Soneium.

On Sept 10, blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, together with blockchain network Tron and Tether, said they have jointly set up the T3 financial crime unit.

This unit aims to facilitate public-private collaboration to tackle illicit activity associated with the use of USDT on the Tron blockchain.

The trio said that in the weeks since this unit’s launch, the initiative has helped law enforcers with the freezing of more than USDT 12 million in funds linked to a blackmail scam and an investment fraud case, among others.

They said the police are aware of at least 11 victims impacted by the scams and expect to identify additional victims as the investigations unfold.

TRM said it would provide aid to Tron and Tether in identifying transactions that have a connection to illegal activities, such as terrorism, sanctions evasion, theft, hacking, cybercrime and fraud.

Meanwhile, analytics platform Nansen on Sept 10 announced the acquisition of staking service provider StakeWithUs.

StakeWithUs is backed by SGInnovate, a Singapore government-owned innovation platform.

Nansen, which provides analytics across more than 20 blockchains, said the move would broaden its service offerings for both retail and institutional participants.