Original author: TechFlow
Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai.
In the global chess game of the encryption industry, the three cities are competing for industry discourse power and talent resources in different ways.
Singapores strict regulations have made the former utopia lose its halo, Hong Kongs open policies have triggered a wave of returnees, and Dubai has become an emerging crypto oasis with its zero tax burden + open regulation model.
These three crypto highlands are all dream habitats for the crypto industry, but now they are standing at the crossroads of fate. Who will have the last laugh in this Three Cities Tale between regulatory iron fist, capital flow, and Web3 ambition?
Singapore: Once a romantic city
Singapore, the small island known as the Lion City, was once a utopia in the eyes of countless crypto dreamers.
Today, Singapore’s crypto community is shrouded in a “compliance fog.”
In June 2025, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued a final interpretation requiring unlicensed digital token service providers (DTSPs) to stop providing services to overseas customers before June 30, and even the core team’s overseas projects in Singapore are subject to MAS’ regulatory review.
The policy was still unclear and people were in a panic for a while.
Since then, Singapores MAS has adopted a combination of soft and hard tactics, appeasing investors while taking a tough stance against offshore exchanges.
MAS released the latest explanation, saying that the main objects of supervision are so-called digital payment tokens and tokens of capital market products, that is, payment tokens or equity tokens. Service providers of governance tokens and utility and governance tokens are not affected by the regulations and do not need to apply for a license.
In addition, according to Bloomberg, Singapore regulators issued a final warning, urging major cryptocurrency trading platforms operating in the country but without local licenses to exit quickly.
According to TechFlow, many cryptocurrency exchanges based in Singapore have begun to implement evacuation plans, moving core personnel to Hong Kong, Malaysia and other places.
However, crypto practitioners fleeing Singapore was already a trend long before the policy panic.
Its too expensive, I cant afford to stay here. Even XIN, a senior crypto practitioner, feels that the cost of living in Singapore is too high.
A good apartment in Orchard Road costs about 5,000 Singapore dollars (25,000 RMB). This cost alone is a headache for many people, but whats more important is that it has become much more difficult to make money this year.
In the opinion of Adam, a crypto practitioner, Singapore has attracted a large number of practitioners in the past. On the one hand, Singapore is safe and has institutional guarantees. On the other hand, everyone can make money and cover costs. Whether it is the project party, exchange or VC, they can all get a share of the bull market. However, this cycle seems to belong only to Bitcoin. A large number of altcoin projects have broken their issue prices, and crypto VCs have lost all their money. It is better to hoard Bitcoin and lie flat than to make a fuss. Staying in Singapore has lost its meaning except for increasing costs.
Qin, who has lived in Singapore for several years, has also observed that more and more people in the industry have left Singapore in the past year. An obvious phenomenon is that many previously active hiking groups in Singapore have become quiet.
With the impact of this policy, many practitioners will leave one after another. So who will continue to stay in Singapore?
1. Practitioners of crypto-licensed companies. According to the official website of Singapore Mas, 24 companies including COBO, ANTALPHA, CEFFU, MATRIXPORT, etc. are on the exemption list, and 33 companies including BITGO, CIRCLE, COINBASE, GSR, Hashkey, OKX SG, etc. have obtained DTSP licenses.
Second, practitioners who do not require a license, such as crypto VCs, KOLs, non-securities and payment token project parties... However, most of the above personnel are founders and executives, or have obtained Singapore PR and settled in Singapore.
In summary, Singapore has implemented their talent strategy to attract sufficiently compliant and high net worth individuals.
Hong Kong: The boom
Leaving Singapore, where is the new crypto hotspot?
Hong Kong and Dubai may be the two main versions of the answer at present.
After the final interpretation of Singapores DTSP was announced, Hong Kong Legislative Council member Wu Jiezhuang immediately issued a bilingual statement in Chinese and English on social media, saying: If you are unable to continue your business in Singapore and intend to move to Hong Kong, please contact me for details. We are willing to provide assistance and welcome you to develop in Hong Kong!
The night view of Victoria Harbour remains as dazzling as ever, but Hong Kong’s financial story is ushering in a new chapter.
With the listing of Circle, Hong Kongs promotion of stablecoin regulation has brought the attention of various capitals back to the Lion Rock.
On May 21, 2025, the Hong Kong Stablecoin Issuers Bill was officially passed, requiring stablecoin issuers to be licensed and their reserve assets to be 100% backed by highly liquid assets. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) even has extraterritorial jurisdiction to supervise global Hong Kong dollar-pegged stablecoins.
On June 12, Bloomberg reported that Ant Group’s international department is planning to apply for a stablecoin license in Hong Kong.
In addition to the increasingly clear and precise encryption policies, Hong Kongs current macro environment is undergoing unprecedented improvement compared to the past few years when it was once ridiculed as a financial relic.
Well-known financial media Gelonghui Gelong shared several sets of data:
1. Hong Kong’s residential rental levels have reached a new high;
2. The number of Americans in Hong Kong (representative data of foreigners in Hong Kong) has reached a new high. Before the epidemic, there were 85,000 Americans. After the epidemic ended in 2023, there were only 70,000 Americans. Now the latest data has exceeded 85,000 Americans.
3. The application fees collected by the University of Hong Kong (not admission fees, but application fees) have reached 800 million a year.
LD CAPITAL founder Yi Lihua has lived and worked in Singapore and Hong Kong for a long time, but he admits that he prefers Hong Kong and will stay in Hong Kong for a long time in the future.
Hong Kong has many advantages, for example, more delicious food, better climate, closer to the mainland, and more friendly policies. In addition, a very important point is that it is easier to obtain an identity in Hong Kong than in Singapore. It is given after you have stayed for a certain period of time, while in Singapore you need to apply again and again. I think it is a better choice to stay in China forever and let our descendants continue to be Chinese. said Yi Lihua.
More and more crypto practitioners are choosing to relocate from Singapore to Hong Kong. According to insiders, TRON founder Justin Sun also moved from Singapore to Hong Kong to settle down long-term.
When comparing the rise and fall of popularity between the two cities, an obvious indicator is the rental level.
According to Midland Realty data, in May 2024, Hong Kong residential rents climbed for three consecutive months, reaching the highest level since 2019.
The Hong Kong Centaline City Rental Index (CRI) showed that it was 125.38 in May this year, a monthly surge of 1.32%, the largest increase in 9 months, and only 2.05% below the historical high.
In contrast, in the first half of 2024, prime private home rents in Singapore fell 4.5%, the largest drop among 30 cities worldwide.
Dubai: The “Shenzhen” of the Middle East
In addition to Singapore and Hong Kong in East Asia, Dubai, this chain desert oasis, is reshaping the crypto landscape at rocket speed.
Zero personal income tax, corporate tax as low as 0-9%, relatively reasonable cost of living, more international, a practitioner who has lived and worked in Dubai for two years listed the citys attractions, More importantly, the regulators here truly understand and embrace crypto innovation.
In 2025, the Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) further optimized the regulatory rules and adopted the sandbox-adapt-expand model to provide clearer legal protection for virtual asset service providers (VASPs).
As early as 2024, Dubai has gathered more than 1,400 blockchain startups with a total valuation of US$24.5 billion, forming a complete ecosystem including more than 90 investment funds and 12 incubators.
According to Chainalysis data, Dubais crypto industry contributes approximately 100 billion dirhams (27.25 billion U.S. dollars) in output value, accounting for 4.3% of the UAEs GDP.
In May 2025, the UAE state-owned investment company MGX invested $2 billion in Binance, the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange, which was an even clearer signal.
Snow, a senior investor in the crypto industry, has lived in Dubai for a long time. Lots of opportunities is the core reason why she chose Dubai. In her opinion, all aspects of the Middle East are not as perfect as those in Singapore and Hong Kong. Whether it is the legal system or the infrastructure, many are not perfect, but the more imperfect a place is, the more opportunities it has.
Dubai, like Shenzhen at the beginning of the last century, attracted people from all corners of the world to flock there just for their original dream - to make money.
In addition to the natives of the Middle East, the largest number of people in Dubai are Europeans, Russians, Indians, and Chinese... Everyone comes here to discuss business and make money, and then they buy houses in Dubai or in their home countries after making money.
Nancy, who lives in Dubai, used to be a real estate agent and has witnessed the crazy rise in Dubais housing market. According to a recent report by CBRE, a global commercial real estate services company, residential prices in Dubai will increase by an average of 18% in 2024. By the first quarter of 2025, this figure will reach 20%.
The new cryptocurrency is an important force supporting Dubais real estate market.
In the past few years, cryptocurrency tycoons from China have purchased a large number of buildings in Dubai, said Nancy.
Previously, Damac Properties, the largest private real estate developer in Dubai, announced that it would accept cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin for the sale of properties.
Today, Dubai is also the most important testing ground for real estate RWA.
On May 1, Dubai’s MultiBank Group, real estate giant MAG, and blockchain provider Mavryk signed a $3 billion RWA deal that will see MAG’s luxury real estate projects access the blockchain through a regulated RWA marketplace.
The Dubai Land Department (DLD), the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates, and the Dubai Future Foundation launched a tokenized real estate project in the Middle East and North Africa region on May 25. The government agencies launched a platform that allows investors to buy tokenized shares of ready-to-own properties in Dubai.
Due to its friendly regulation, Dubai is currently the base camp for many exchanges, led by Binance, the largest cryptocurrency trading platform.
In Dubai and even the entire Middle East, Binance has a relatively special status.
Binance is a very useful identity label in Dubai. Former employees, Binance-invested companies, Binance partners... are all very high-quality identity endorsements. Even if there is no such identity, many people will try to get it by saying that they know a certain Binance executive, Nancy said. Perhaps it is the agglomeration effect brought by Binance that has led to Dubai becoming an important information and project resource trading center in the crypto market. A large number of cryptocurrency project shell resources and other market makers are traded in Dubai.
In addition to exchange personnel, Dubai is currently home to a large number of well-known crypto KOLs. For example, the Coin Bureau studio, which has 2.68 million followers on Youtube, is located in Dubai.
However, Dubai faces its own challenges.
Extreme summer heat, cultural differences, limited banking services, and geopolitical uncertainties are all potential concerns. Dubai is great, but its not everyones ideal choice, Nancy said. Many people just want to make money in Dubai and leave when they make enough money. Dubai is not suitable for living. In comparison, Abu Dhabi has a more lively atmosphere.
In addition, cultural and time zone differences in Dubai may also become an obstacle to expanding into the Asian market. Dubai is a bridge connecting Europe, Asia and Africa, while Hong Kong is the gateway to Asia, especially the Chinese market.
Singapores tightening regulations, Hong Kongs policy revival, and Dubais rapid rise have created a unique pattern among the three crypto cities: Hong Kong serves as the gateway to Asia, especially the Chinese market; Dubai is the intersection of Europe, Asia, and Africa; and Singapore may be repositioned as a more compliant and institutionalized crypto asset management center.
Whether it’s the dazzling night view of Victoria Harbor, the magnificent landscape of the Burj Khalifa, or the modern buildings of Singapore’s Marina Bay, the skylines of these cities are witnessing the arrival of a new era of crypto finance.
