Institutional investors are keen to build on Singapore’s
digital asset ecosystem by optimising their exposure to crypto alongside more
conventional portfolio allocations.
Singapore
Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don’t!).
Institutional engagement with digital assets in Singapore is
being driven not only by trading opportunities but also by the need to build
knowledge around market access, custody, settlement and the underlying
technology.
Banks, asset
managers and family offices are treating digital assets as a permanent
fixture within modern portfolios, prioritising regulated compliance, secure
custody and institutional-grade infrastructure over short-term retail trading
dynamics.
Despite ongoing volatility, cryptocurrency,
particularly Bitcoin, continues to be viewed as a meaningful portfolio
diversifier by institutional investors in Singapore, observes Nicholas Strain,
director of institutional sales at LMAX Digital.
“As the asset class has become more mainstream, institutions
are evolving from simple buy-and-hold exposure toward more sophisticated,
risk-adjusted strategies, including the use of derivatives and options to
manage downside while retaining upside potential,” he says.
From Allocation Decisions to Execution Strategy
Nicholas Strain, Director of Institutional Sales at LMAX Digital
Conversations with institutional investors have moved from
asking whether to allocate to figuring out how much, through what vehicles and
how operational risk should be managed, says Julien Le Noble, chief executive
officer GTN Asia.
“Financial
institutions are no longer waiting on the sidelines and have begun
allocating,” he adds. “They understand that building exposure now, within a
regulated framework, could position them ahead of their competitors in other
markets, so they are moving forward.”
Tokenisation and Long-Term Growth Narrative
Julien Le Noble, CEO of GTN Asia
As the global push towards tokenised instruments and
on-chain finance proliferates, Mark Garabedian, director of digital assets and
tokenization at Wellington Management Singapore, refers to crypto as the most
direct investment opportunity to participate in growth.
“Crypto assets encompass a broad range of sectors and
instruments that have defining characteristics, with some offering
diversification benefits,” he adds.
“The asset class is still in its infancy in
terms of adoption and thus its diversification and volatility characteristics
are expected to change over time as the volume of investment flows
grow.”
Market Stress, Correlations and Maturing Behaviour
In the short term, there may be some correlations due to
macro stress events, but crypto’s fundamental drivers remain distinct from
traditional asset classes.
As Le Noble observes, drawdowns can be seen as entry points rather than reasons
to exit — which is a sign of maturity for the asset class.
Portfolio Construction and Institutional Frameworks
Osh Ong, Chief Operating Officer of OKX SG
Institutions are increasingly approaching digital assets
through a portfolio allocation lens, asking how they sit alongside equities,
commodities and alternatives within a broader framework, agrees Osh Ong, OKX SG
chief operating officer.
“The engagement is structured and deliberate, with custody
arrangements, liquidity profiles and regulatory clarity all firmly on the
checklist before any meaningful allocation is made,” he says, adding that volatility hasn’t
diminished crypto’s relevance but rather pushed investors toward a more nuanced
understanding of how these assets actually behave.
“In some market environments, crypto trades as a high-beta
proxy for global liquidity; in others, it starts to look more like a hedge
sitting alongside other alternative assets,” adds Ong. “That dual behaviour is
increasingly something institutions are
factoring into how they size and manage their exposure, rather than treating it
as a reason to stay on the sidelines.”
Institutional Conviction in Blockchain Infrastructure
Hassan Ahmed, country director Singapore at Coinbase,
reckons the vast majority of institutions now view blockchain as a
long-term value driver and a structural upgrade to the financial markets.
Hassan Ahmed, Country Director for Singapore at Coinbase
“Local banks and fund managers are announcing tokenisation
initiatives that show this technology is ready for deployment,” he says. “Our
regulatory framework prioritises trust over speed, which is a critical factor
for local investors, who now rank security as their primary concern.”
Ahmed also notes that investors increasingly treat digital
assets as a strategic macro diversifier, making the point that Bitcoin in particular
has evolved into a liquidity gauge, tracking monetary cycles more closely than
traditional metrics such as CPI and creating an interesting correlation with
other safe-haven assets.
Growing Role of Crypto in Portfolios
The old thesis of putting 1–2% into crypto as an
uncorrelated hedge has largely run its course. Crypto increasingly moves with
risk assets during market stress and institutions have noticed. But rather than
stepping back, they have changed how they engage.
Tianwei Liu, CEO and Co-founder of StraitsX
That is the view of Tianwei Liu, CEO and co-founder of
StraitsX, who says the clearest signal of this trend is the rise of Bitcoin
treasuries.
“At the same time, stablecoins have opened a separate lane
for institutions seeking the infrastructure without the price exposure,” he
continues. “Settlement, treasury operations and cross-border payments are
already running on these rails, making the landscape far less binary. The
question is no longer whether to participate, but how.”
Spectrum of Institutional Strategies
Samar Sen, head of international markets at Talos, refers to
a wide range of investment strategies, from family offices holding crypto as a
long-term investment, to global macro hedge funds trading crypto arbitrage
opportunities, to crypto funds offering yield generation on idle assets.
“We are seeing a shift toward more structured
participation,” he suggests. “Crypto is increasingly considered alongside other
traditional asset classes such as equities, FX and commodities,
particularly from a portfolio construction perspective. That is relevant in
Singapore, where many institutions are already active across FX and derivatives
markets and are extending those frameworks into digital assets.”
Samar Sen, Head of International Markets at Talos
At the same time, interest is starting to broaden out.
Beyond cryptocurrencies, there is more focus on tokenised assets and
collateral, especially where they can be incorporated into existing trading,
financing and risk workflows.
Regulatory Clarity and Market Integration in Singapore
“Singapore’s regulatory stance has underpinned this,” adds
Sen. “The approach has been to integrate digital assets into the existing
financial system, rather than treat them separately. That has given
institutions enough clarity to move from early-stage exploration into live
trading and allocation.”
From Low Correlation to Behaviour-Based Allocation
In the early days of crypto, the diversification argument
was often framed around low correlation. Now institutions are looking more
closely at how crypto behaves in practice, which includes how easy it is to
enter and exit positions, how it reacts during periods of stress and how it
moves alongside other risk assets.
Beyond crypto, tokenised assets
— whether novel forms of previously illiquid assets or traditional assets like
equities and bonds represented on blockchain rails — are expanding how
institutional investors express trading and investment views.
Institutional investors are keen to build on Singapore’s
digital asset ecosystem by optimising their exposure to crypto alongside more
conventional portfolio allocations.
Singapore
Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don’t!).
Institutional engagement with digital assets in Singapore is
being driven not only by trading opportunities but also by the need to build
knowledge around market access, custody, settlement and the underlying
technology.
Banks, asset
managers and family offices are treating digital assets as a permanent
fixture within modern portfolios, prioritising regulated compliance, secure
custody and institutional-grade infrastructure over short-term retail trading
dynamics.
Despite ongoing volatility, cryptocurrency,
particularly Bitcoin, continues to be viewed as a meaningful portfolio
diversifier by institutional investors in Singapore, observes Nicholas Strain,
director of institutional sales at LMAX Digital.
“As the asset class has become more mainstream, institutions
are evolving from simple buy-and-hold exposure toward more sophisticated,
risk-adjusted strategies, including the use of derivatives and options to
manage downside while retaining upside potential,” he says.
From Allocation Decisions to Execution Strategy
Nicholas Strain, Director of Institutional Sales at LMAX Digital
Conversations with institutional investors have moved from
asking whether to allocate to figuring out how much, through what vehicles and
how operational risk should be managed, says Julien Le Noble, chief executive
officer GTN Asia.
“Financial
institutions are no longer waiting on the sidelines and have begun
allocating,” he adds. “They understand that building exposure now, within a
regulated framework, could position them ahead of their competitors in other
markets, so they are moving forward.”
Tokenisation and Long-Term Growth Narrative
Julien Le Noble, CEO of GTN Asia
As the global push towards tokenised instruments and
on-chain finance proliferates, Mark Garabedian, director of digital assets and
tokenization at Wellington Management Singapore, refers to crypto as the most
direct investment opportunity to participate in growth.
“Crypto assets encompass a broad range of sectors and
instruments that have defining characteristics, with some offering
diversification benefits,” he adds.
“The asset class is still in its infancy in
terms of adoption and thus its diversification and volatility characteristics
are expected to change over time as the volume of investment flows
grow.”
Market Stress, Correlations and Maturing Behaviour
In the short term, there may be some correlations due to
macro stress events, but crypto’s fundamental drivers remain distinct from
traditional asset classes.
As Le Noble observes, drawdowns can be seen as entry points rather than reasons
to exit — which is a sign of maturity for the asset class.
Portfolio Construction and Institutional Frameworks
Osh Ong, Chief Operating Officer of OKX SG
Institutions are increasingly approaching digital assets
through a portfolio allocation lens, asking how they sit alongside equities,
commodities and alternatives within a broader framework, agrees Osh Ong, OKX SG
chief operating officer.
“The engagement is structured and deliberate, with custody
arrangements, liquidity profiles and regulatory clarity all firmly on the
checklist before any meaningful allocation is made,” he says, adding that volatility hasn’t
diminished crypto’s relevance but rather pushed investors toward a more nuanced
understanding of how these assets actually behave.
“In some market environments, crypto trades as a high-beta
proxy for global liquidity; in others, it starts to look more like a hedge
sitting alongside other alternative assets,” adds Ong. “That dual behaviour is
increasingly something institutions are
factoring into how they size and manage their exposure, rather than treating it
as a reason to stay on the sidelines.”
Institutional Conviction in Blockchain Infrastructure
Hassan Ahmed, country director Singapore at Coinbase,
reckons the vast majority of institutions now view blockchain as a
long-term value driver and a structural upgrade to the financial markets.
Hassan Ahmed, Country Director for Singapore at Coinbase
“Local banks and fund managers are announcing tokenisation
initiatives that show this technology is ready for deployment,” he says. “Our
regulatory framework prioritises trust over speed, which is a critical factor
for local investors, who now rank security as their primary concern.”
Ahmed also notes that investors increasingly treat digital
assets as a strategic macro diversifier, making the point that Bitcoin in particular
has evolved into a liquidity gauge, tracking monetary cycles more closely than
traditional metrics such as CPI and creating an interesting correlation with
other safe-haven assets.
Growing Role of Crypto in Portfolios
The old thesis of putting 1–2% into crypto as an
uncorrelated hedge has largely run its course. Crypto increasingly moves with
risk assets during market stress and institutions have noticed. But rather than
stepping back, they have changed how they engage.
Tianwei Liu, CEO and Co-founder of StraitsX
That is the view of Tianwei Liu, CEO and co-founder of
StraitsX, who says the clearest signal of this trend is the rise of Bitcoin
treasuries.
“At the same time, stablecoins have opened a separate lane
for institutions seeking the infrastructure without the price exposure,” he
continues. “Settlement, treasury operations and cross-border payments are
already running on these rails, making the landscape far less binary. The
question is no longer whether to participate, but how.”
Spectrum of Institutional Strategies
Samar Sen, head of international markets at Talos, refers to
a wide range of investment strategies, from family offices holding crypto as a
long-term investment, to global macro hedge funds trading crypto arbitrage
opportunities, to crypto funds offering yield generation on idle assets.
“We are seeing a shift toward more structured
participation,” he suggests. “Crypto is increasingly considered alongside other
traditional asset classes such as equities, FX and commodities,
particularly from a portfolio construction perspective. That is relevant in
Singapore, where many institutions are already active across FX and derivatives
markets and are extending those frameworks into digital assets.”
Samar Sen, Head of International Markets at Talos
At the same time, interest is starting to broaden out.
Beyond cryptocurrencies, there is more focus on tokenised assets and
collateral, especially where they can be incorporated into existing trading,
financing and risk workflows.
Regulatory Clarity and Market Integration in Singapore
“Singapore’s regulatory stance has underpinned this,” adds
Sen. “The approach has been to integrate digital assets into the existing
financial system, rather than treat them separately. That has given
institutions enough clarity to move from early-stage exploration into live
trading and allocation.”
From Low Correlation to Behaviour-Based Allocation
In the early days of crypto, the diversification argument
was often framed around low correlation. Now institutions are looking more
closely at how crypto behaves in practice, which includes how easy it is to
enter and exit positions, how it reacts during periods of stress and how it
moves alongside other risk assets.
Beyond crypto, tokenised assets
— whether novel forms of previously illiquid assets or traditional assets like
equities and bonds represented on blockchain rails — are expanding how
institutional investors express trading and investment views.