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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Choose a Singapore crypto custodian by checking the exact legal entity and digital payment token (DPT) service in the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Financial Institutions Directory, then assessing how that service safeguards assets, controls transfers, handles insolvency and charges fees. A licence is a threshold for regulatory oversight, not a security rating or a promise that you can recover assets quickly if the provider fails.
Before comparing providers, establish whether you are seeking a retail, accredited-investor or institutional service. Availability, terms and regulatory treatment can differ by customer type; a directory listing alone does not establish that a firm offers the particular custody service you need.
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1. Verify the legal entity and the relevant Singapore service
Search the MAS Financial Institutions Directory by institution, licence type or activity. Match the result to the legal entity named in the custody agreement and the entity receiving your assets—not just a familiar group or trading name. Confirm that the entry covers digital payment token services and check its current status in the live directory.
MAS warns that scammers may impersonate regulated firms. Verify contact details and transfer instructions independently using the directory and the provider’s official channels; do not treat a similar name, logo or website as proof that you are dealing with the listed entity.
#1 Best Overall
- Effortlessly build your crypto portfolio via the all in one Ledger Wallet app: buy, sell, send, receive, swap, stake and more across popular blockchains. 15,000+ coins & tokens in a single dashboard. Keep a close eye on the market. Compare service providers. Track performance. Get timely alerts. Build your portfolio with confidence.
- Effortlessly build your crypto portfolio via the all in one Ledger Wallet app: buy, sell, send, receive, swap, stake and more across popular blockchains. 15,000+ coins & tokens in a single dashboard. Keep a close eye on the market. Compare service providers. Track performance. Get timely alerts. Build your portfolio with confidence.
- Enjoy Bluetooth connectivity, iOS access, and hours of battery use with this mobile-first, secure backup signer. Freedom you can depend on.
- Genuine Check: confirm your signer is authentic during setup with the Ledger Wallet app.
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A DPT-service listing does not, by itself, prove that the firm offers standalone custody, supports your assets, or accepts your customer category. Ask the provider to confirm those points in writing and ensure the contracting entity matches the one you verified.
Singapore’s regulatory scope can also depend on whom a provider serves. In June 2025, MAS clarified that from 30 June 2025, certain digital token service providers serving only customers outside Singapore in relation to DPTs and tokens of capital markets products need a licence under the Financial Services and Markets Act regime; MAS said it would generally not issue licences for those models. That overseas-only regime is distinct from the existing framework applicable to providers serving Singapore customers, including the Payment Services Act for DPT services. Do not use an overseas-only business model to infer the licensing position of a provider serving you in Singapore.
2. Understand what a licence does—and does not—tell you
Singapore’s Payment Services Regulations contain additional requirements for licensees providing DPT services. Depending on the applicable provision and arrangement, these include separate customer-asset book entries, safeguarding requirements, records, risk systems and controls, and reasonable measures to maintain the integrity and security of the means used to safeguard DPT instruments. The rules do not mean every provider uses the same custody architecture.
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MAS distinguishes Standard Payment Institution (SPI) and Major Payment Institution (MPI) licences, with transaction thresholds determining which class an applicant should apply for. These classes and thresholds are regulatory categories, not consumer-protection grades, measures of security quality or proof that custody is the provider’s main business. The MAS licensing page was last updated on 2 September 2024; check the live law and current MAS material rather than relying on older threshold figures.
Regulatory oversight also cannot protect customers from every loss. MAS describes DPT activity as highly risky and speculative and warns against unregulated entities, including overseas entities. Treat licensing as one verification step, not a substitute for evaluating the service and its contract.
3. Compare the actual custody safeguards
Ask each candidate the same questions and request written answers that refer to the assets and service you intend to use. The requirements in Singapore law set a baseline in relevant areas; the operational details below are comparison questions, not a claim that each named control is expressly mandated by the cited provisions.
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- Connectivity: USB-C cable connection only. No Bluetooth.Compatible with the Ledger Wallet crypto app, both desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux) and mobile (Android only). Not compatible with iOS.
- Protect your digital assets with the industry's best security: keep your private keys offline in your private signer, battle-tested by the Donjon's white hat hackers, CC EAL 6+ certified Secure Element, constantly updated Ledger OS.
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| Area | What to ask | Evidence to request |
|---|---|---|
| Segregation and safeguarding | Are customer assets kept separate from the provider’s own assets? What safeguarding or trust arrangement applies to this service? If there is a safeguarding person, who is it and what is its role? | The custody agreement, a clear explanation of the arrangement, and the entity responsible for safeguarding. |
| Records and reconciliation | How often are customer entitlements reconciled against on-chain holdings and internal records? How are discrepancies investigated and corrected? | A description of reconciliation frequency, recordkeeping and discrepancy handling. MAS identified daily reconciliation and proper books and records among measures discussed in its investor-protection package. |
| Keys and transfer authority | Which people, systems or third parties can authorize or execute transfers? Are approvals separated by role? What withdrawal allow-lists, limits, authentication steps or delays are available? | A written explanation of approval paths and the controls that apply to your account and asset types. |
| Custody independence | Is the custody function operationally independent from trading, lending or other business units? Who can access or override its controls? | An explanation of organizational separation and access governance. MAS identified independence of the custody function among measures in its investor-protection package. |
| Incidents and continuity | How will the provider notify customers of an incident? What backup, recovery and support arrangements apply, and what service availability commitments are documented? | Written incident, continuity and customer-support procedures. Do not infer a particular recovery time from a licence. |
| Independent assurance | Has an independent party assessed relevant systems or controls? What did the work cover and exclude? | The report or attestation, its date, scope and exclusions. An audit or attestation is not a guarantee against loss. |
Do not accept a claim that assets are “insured” without seeing the policy details: identify the covered events, limits, exclusions, insurer and who is entitled to claim. A general statement about insurance does not establish that your assets or the risks you care about are covered.
4. Read the agreement for control, access and failure terms
Operational safeguards matter, but your contract describes the legal relationship and can affect what happens when service is disrupted or ends. Read it before depositing assets, and ask the provider to explain any unclear clause in writing.
- Ownership and entitlement: How does the agreement describe title to assets and your beneficial interest? What records support your claim?
- Use of assets: Does the provider have any right to lend, reuse or rehypothecate assets? Is that right separate from custody or dependent on a feature you enable?
- Asset-specific events: What happens to forks, airdrops, staking or other protocol events, and who decides whether to support them?
- Third parties: Can assets be held by a sub-custodian? If so, who is it, what role does it perform and what terms govern that relationship?
- Access and exit: Under what circumstances can withdrawals be suspended, service terminated or an account restricted? What process and charges apply to closing or migrating an account?
- Insolvency: What does the agreement say about customer assets and claims if the provider becomes insolvent? Ask how recovery would work in practice; a contractual description is not a guarantee of prompt access.
5. Treat insolvency recovery as a separate risk
Segregation and safeguarding can reduce risks, but they do not eliminate the consequences of a provider’s failure. MAS said on 3 July 2023: “While the segregation and custody requirements will minimise the risk of loss of customers’ assets, consumers may still face significant delays in recovering their assets in the event of insolvency of the service providers.” The practical question is therefore not only whether assets are safeguarded, but what legal and operational steps customers may face to establish and recover their entitlements.
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Ask the provider to describe its recovery process and the records customers would need. Consider whether you could tolerate an extended period without access. No licence, trust arrangement, audit or contractual promise should be treated as assurance of full or immediate recovery.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.6. Compare the full cost, not just the custody rate
The official sources cited here do not provide a current, comparable schedule of provider-specific custody fees. Do not assume a “typical” Singapore rate or compare headline prices without dated provider quotes using the same assumptions. Request a written schedule that separates custody charges from trading, network and third-party costs.
| Fee line | What to confirm | How to make quotes comparable |
|---|---|---|
| Custody | Is the charge flat, based on assets under custody, tiered or negotiated? How often is it billed? | Use the same assumed asset value, billing period and asset mix. |
| Minimums and setup | Are there account, balance, onboarding or setup minimums or charges? | Record one-time costs separately from recurring charges. |
| Deposits and withdrawals | Are there deposit, withdrawal or transfer charges? Who sets or passes through network costs? | Use the same number and type of transfers, and separate provider fees from network charges. |
| Trading and settlement | If trading is bundled, what transaction or settlement charges apply, and which services are included? | Separate custody costs from exchange or settlement costs. |
| Additional services | Are there charges for additional users, approval policies, reporting, API access or institutional service levels? | Include only the features you need and compare equivalent service levels. |
| Exit and recovery | What are the charges or potential delays for account closure, asset recovery or migration? | Include exit costs, not just the cost of opening and maintaining the account. |
| Taxes and third parties | Are taxes or third-party charges excluded from the quote? | Identify exclusions explicitly rather than treating the quoted total as all-in. |
Save each quote with its date, assumptions, service tier and fee exclusions. Rates negotiated for one customer type or account size may not apply to another.
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7. Check customer category and yield features separately
Do not assume that a custody service available to an institution or accredited investor is also available to a retail customer on the same terms. Confirm eligibility, supported assets, withdrawal rights and fees for your own category before relying on a product description.
Custody is also different from lending or staking. MAS announced restrictions on DPT service providers facilitating lending and staking of DPT tokens for retail customers, while describing continued availability of such activities to institutional and accredited investors. The applicable rule, implementation and customer category should be checked before treating any yield feature as available to you. Read its separate terms and risks rather than treating it as a routine part of custody.
Quick Recap
8. Use a consistent decision process
- Define the need: List your customer category, assets, expected transaction frequency, access requirements and whether you need individual or institutional controls.
- Verify each entity: Check the legal entity and relevant DPT activity in the live MAS Financial Institutions Directory, then match them to the agreement and transfer instructions.
- Request comparable evidence: Send the same safeguarding, reconciliation, transfer-control, incident and assurance questions to every candidate.
- Review the contract: Resolve terms on asset use, third parties, withdrawals, service termination and insolvency before transferring assets.
- Compare dated all-in quotes: Apply the same asset value, activity assumptions and service requirements, including exit costs and exclusions.
- Decide against your own risk tolerance: Weigh regulatory status, safeguards, practical recovery implications, service fit and full cost; do not let one licence label or low fee decide the choice alone.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
