Singapore’s crypto activity grew by 55.4% to reach $284 billion in the year ending June 2026, making it the largest crypto economy in Central and Southeast Asia and Oceania, according to Chainalysis. Institutional activity was a key factor, rising 94% to $60 billion, even as the broader regional crypto economy shrank by 6.8%. Both centralized and decentralized exchanges saw more activity. These numbers highlight Singapore’s expanding role in institutional crypto trading, payments, settlement, and digital-asset infrastructure.
Central & Southeast Asia and Oceania’s crypto economy shrank 6.8% this year.
But most major markets grew in at least one area, from institutional trading to cross-border stablecoin payments to peer-to-peer transfers.
Read on 🧵 pic.twitter.com/DCyOBtMAKT
— Chainalysis (@chainalysis) September 30, 2026
Singapore’s growth is notable because the wider Central and Southeast Asia and Oceania (CSAO) crypto economy shrank during the same period. Chainalysis reports that the regional market fell by 6.8% in the year ending June 2026, while Singapore saw growth in several areas of its crypto ecosystem.
Institutional activity was especially important. Market makers, over-the-counter trading firms, and institutional brokerages were responsible for much of the increase. Chainalysis noted that most of the growth came from existing platforms processing higher volumes, not from many new services entering the market.
Centralized exchange activity in Singapore rose by 30%, and flows into decentralized exchanges increased by 69%. This shows that the growth was not limited to large institutional trading desks.
The broader region also experienced strong growth in institutional platforms. Market makers, prime brokers, OTC desks, custodians, and institutional-only exchanges processed $152.3 billion during the period, a 40% increase from the previous year. By the end of the second quarter of 2026, these platforms made up 18.9% of regional crypto activity.
Australia stayed as the region’s second-largest crypto economy, with $173.1 billion in activity. However, its total activity dropped by 5.6%. Institutional platform activity in Australia still rose by 33.3% to $39.92 billion.
The Chainalysis data also shows that crypto use in the region extends beyond trading. Stablecoins are increasingly being used for cross-border transactions, with cross-border stablecoin activity larger than domestic activity in every market examined by the research firm.
In CSAO, cross-border stablecoin activity was 3.2 times higher than domestic activity. The Philippines is one example of this trend. Nichel Gaba, CEO and founder of Philippine exchange PDAX, estimated that about 5% to 10% of inbound remittances might be settled with stablecoins.
Smaller crypto transfers are also common in the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. These three countries recorded 5.4 million peer-to-peer transfers below $10,000 during the period. Together, they represented 14.4% of such transfers globally, despite accounting for only 2.5% of the global crypto economy.
In those three countries, over 80% of domestic transfers were below $1,000, and the average transfer was $618.
Singapore’s growth has happened alongside efforts to build its digital-asset infrastructure and regulatory framework. The country has focused on areas like tokenization, regulated stablecoins, and digital-asset settlement.
Daniel Yang, head of compliance at Singapore-based trading firm QCP Group, said Singapore’s crypto activity is increasingly extending beyond trading returns to areas such as payments, treasury management and market infrastructure.
The Chainalysis report looks at the period from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. Its findings show that institutional activity and practical uses like payments and settlement are becoming more important in Singapore’s crypto economy.
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