Singapore’s latest crypto data paints a more measured picture than a widely circulated claim that activity jumped 55%. That 55% increase belongs to Vietnam, while Singapore’s 2026 survey data shows 32% of residents currently own or have previously owned cryptocurrency. Vietnam received more than $200 billion in crypto during the 12 months through June 2025, according to Chainalysis data cited by The Business Times.
The Independent Reserve Cryptocurrency Index Singapore 2026 puts national crypto exposure at 32%, compared with 29% in the 2025 edition. The change represents a three-percentage-point rise in the survey measure, not a 55% surge in transaction flows or current ownership. The 2026 study surveyed more than 1,500 residents between late January and early February.
Vietnam Drives Faster Growth While Singapore Matures
Chainalysis provides the clearest regional comparison. Asia-Pacific on-chain value received climbed 69% year over year to $2.36 trillion during the 12 months ending June 2025, from $1.4 trillion previously. Vietnam grew 55%, while Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and India recorded even faster percentage increases. The regional expansion therefore cannot be attributed to a single Singapore liquidity boom.
Singapore’s demographics also require careful interpretation. The IRCI report says 32% of respondents own or have owned crypto, while Young Millennials show 31% current ownership plus 15% former ownership. Its Gen Z data are internally inconsistent: the detailed chart shows 18% current and 18% former ownership, although a nearby callout describes 36% as current ownership. The detailed breakdown therefore does not support an unqualified claim that 36% of Gen Z currently holds crypto.
Singapore nevertheless has evidence of meaningful crypto payment activity from earlier periods. Chainalysis found that merchant services received nearly $1 billion in crypto in Q2 2024, its highest quarterly figure in the preceding two years. That historical payment volume is separate from the 2026 ownership survey and should not be combined with it as a single adoption metric. Singapore has since continued expanding regulated market access, including additional Major Payment Institution licensing.
Institutional infrastructure provides a different measure of Singapore’s digital-asset development. In November 2025, the Monetary Authority of Singapore completed a live wholesale CBDC trial with DBS, OCBC and UOB and announced plans for a subsequent trial involving tokenized MAS Bills issued to primary dealers and settled with wholesale CBDC. The MAS initiative is a planned tokenized-securities trial, not evidence of a nationwide rise in retail crypto ownership.
That work sits alongside other efforts to move regulated financial assets onto programmable infrastructure. Singapore-linked institutions have already participated in live weekend tokenized-dollar settlement, while locally connected issuers have expanded institutional-grade tokenized gold products. These developments demonstrate infrastructure deployment and experimentation, but they measure something fundamentally different from household crypto adoption.
The corrected regional picture is therefore more differentiated than the original 55% Singapore claim suggests. Vietnam recorded the 55% year-over-year growth in on-chain value received, while Singapore’s latest survey indicates a modest increase in crypto exposure alongside deeper institutional tokenization work. The next concrete Singapore milestone will be MAS releasing details and results from its planned tokenized MAS Bills trial, providing a clearer measure of progress toward operational tokenized capital markets.
