'There are no eternal enemies, nor eternal friends, only eternal interests.' — Lee Kuan Yew$BTC $ETH $BTC
01. From 'first, the cake' to 'smart nation' — the cool undertones of the Lee family's governance philosophy.
In 1965, right after independence, Singapore, under Lee Kuan Yew's iron fist, reclaimed its right to survive using the most pragmatic means: the strictest anti-corruption laws, an elite civil service system, and an order that required everything from hair strands to road dust to be 'as clean as a Swiss bank'. Pragmatism is the national DNA.
After Lee Hsien Loong took over, he didn't discard the scalpel; he simply shifted the incision from port cranes to data lines:
1️⃣ The Smart Nation plan digitizes nationwide payments, government services, and healthcare.
2️⃣ The FinTech sandbox encourages blockchain and digital payments to first test explosives in the 'safe'.
Pragmatism has upgraded to 'pragmatism + iteration'. Singapore has always welcomed new technologies but keeps a firm grip on the brakes.
02. When the vault is sufficiently full, why bow down to cryptocurrencies?
2.1 Cash Flow: A continuously rising Kelly curve
After the pandemic, while the world faces deficits, Singapore has raised its government recurrent revenue from S$67.4 billion in the 2020 fiscal year to S$116.6 billion in the 2024 fiscal year; the budget for the 2025 fiscal year looks even higher at S$122.8 billion, and even price hikes at chain coffee shops can't stop this 45° incline.
Keeping tax/GDP at 12.1%, far below the Asia-Pacific average of 19.3% and the OECD average of 34%, and still showing surpluses every year — this is the kind of 'low tax, high elasticity' curve that the finance minister loves.
2.2 Talent: The alchemist lives here 💰
The whole island has 5.7 million people, yet it can attract 'Asian talents' from Hong Kong University, Oxford, and MIT straight to the Jurong Industrial Area, with the regional headquarters of Google, Grab, and Stripe as densely packed as cafes. Want to get into Web3? The talent pool is inherently deeper than most crypto-friendly jurisdictions.
2.3 Capital: Sovereign funds are out shopping every day.
Temasek and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) hold assets nearing US$ 1.3 trillion — enough to accidentally buy half of Silicon Valley. Singapore does not lack money; what it lacks are good businesses that can be reliably monetized; Bitcoin's volatility appears more like casino chips than 'macro hedges' in their eyes.
03. MAS 'ultimatum' — from sandbox to pincer attack.
'We generally do not issue new licenses.' — That calm footnote in the MAS announcement is colder than any regulatory iron fist.
Why is the 'overseas-oriented' focus tightening?
Because of the highest AML/CFT risks. You're making money from foreigners, but when it comes to accountability on-chain and off-chain, MAS has to foot the bill — this business's cost-benefit ratio in Singapore is clearly not favorable.
Centralized exchanges, OTC, wealth management, custodial wallets, KOL-led trading → must have DTSP license, DEX, DeFi protocols frontend, pure data services → do not touch the 'holding' red line, exemptions available. Currently, among about 300 Web3 companies, 40-60 have 'overseas-oriented' structures, working overtime to consider moving to Dubai or Hong Kong. Singapore does not retain — if you leave, a few million less in tax base; if you stay, once money laundering blows up, the loss could be sovereign reputation.
Will TOKEN 2049 come back? Who cares? 🇸🇬
Every year, Token2049 turns Marina Bay Sands into 'the world's most expensive mine', with a bottle of liquor soaring to triple-digit dollars at night. The organizers are still watching since the ticket sales began. The question is: even if 2049 truly skips out, will Singapore's GDP lose a basis point?
From Lee Kuan Yew's 'make the cake bigger' to Lee Hsien Loong's 'alchemy of data', this city-state's monetary and industrial strategy has never been about 'surviving on fads,' but rather 'locking the sharpest windfall in the strongest cage.' If the crypto industry proves it can create long-term value, the cage door will open a crack; otherwise, even if its global market cap expands, it won't raise the financial blood pressure of Singapore by half a millimeter of mercury.
Singapore does not need cryptocurrencies — because it has never needed any speculation to prove itself as a financial center.
When you're already holding a golden rice bowl, why would you care about the spinning Bitcoin on the street?
