AI company Anthropic has signed its first Australian data centre lease agreement for a $32 billion facility to be built near Dalby in Queensland's Western Downs region, about 250km west of Brisbane. The site, being developed by Singaporean company Zerra DC, would become one of the world's largest computing facilities.
Singapore has begun online auctions of over 600 luxury items forfeited in its S$3 billion money laundering case, with 15 auctions scheduled to run through May 2027. The first two auctions feature 338 items including designer bags, jewelry, and a 15-carat diamond.
The Singapore Exchange (SGX) has obtained authorization from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission under Regulation 48.10 to offer bitcoin and ether perpetual futures to U.S. institutional investors. SGX reports cumulative trading volume of approximately 400,000 contracts and plans to launch dated futures and options within months.
Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini has obtained a Major Payment Institution license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, completing an approval process that began nearly two years ago with in-principle approval. The license allows Gemini to provide digital payment token services and cross-border money transfer services in Singapore.
Malone Lam, a 22-year-old Singapore man, is scheduled to appear in federal court in Washington on Tuesday for a plea agreement hearing related to one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts in U.S. history. Prosecutors allege he helped orchestrate a scheme in which callers posing as Google and Gemini staff defrauded a single victim of over $240 million in bitcoin, with proceeds allegedly spent on luxury cars and private jets.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network analyzed over 33,000 suspicious activity reports filed between September 2023 and December 2025, identifying $12.7 billion in suspected fraudulent cryptocurrency transactions tied to pig butchering scams operated from Asian compounds. The announcement comes as Singapore authorities separately reported preventing $9 million in crypto scam losses through a joint police and exchange operation.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore is seeking public feedback on proposed legislative changes to the Payment Services Act 2019 that would formalize its stablecoin framework into law, introduce rules for overseas issuers, and establish regulations for interest-bearing stablecoins.
Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini has activated native XRP Ledger deposits and withdrawals for its Singapore customers on August 25, 2026, expanding beyond its previous buy, sell, and hold-only XRP offering in the region.
Cybersecurity job postings requiring AI skills doubled across G7 nations while demand for AI capabilities expanded into finance, HR, teaching, and other non-technical roles. Singapore and the EU launched new AI skills training programs as the workforce shift accelerates.
Visa is searching for a new stablecoin settlement and over-the-counter partner with cryptocurrency exchange licenses in the U.S., Canada, UK, and Singapore following Mastercard's acquisition of BVNK, the payments firm Visa had previously been working with.
Singapore's government upgraded its 2026 economic growth forecast from 2.0-4.0% to 4.5-5.5% after the economy expanded 5.9% year-on-year in Q2, driven by stronger-than-expected global AI investment and less severe impact from the Middle East conflict than anticipated.
Singapore-based DayOne and data centre operator Switch have both confidentially filed for US initial public offerings, with Switch reportedly targeting up to $10 billion and DayOne seeking $6.4 billion, reflecting surging investor demand for AI computing infrastructure.
Multiple research teams have developed machine learning and AI-powered tools to improve liver cancer outcomes, including a Singapore team's post-surgery recurrence predictor and Johns Hopkins researchers' AI blood test for early detection.
HSBC is launching its first Global AI Centre of Excellence in Singapore in the second half of 2026, planning to hire more than 100 AI specialists and 100 wealth relationship managers. The center will focus on developing scalable AI capabilities for payments, wealth management, and treasury operations across HSBC's global network.
Singapore-based cryptocurrency payment firm Triple-A lost over $9.7 million from its hot wallets across six blockchains on July 24-25, 2026, according to security firms PeckShield and on-chain analyst Specter. The incident affected wallets on TRON, Ethereum, TON, Solana, and other chains.
DBS Group, Singapore's largest bank by assets, announced it will offer tokenized physical gold to retail customers through its digibank app in the second half of 2026, as demand for precious metals grows and Singapore positions itself as a gold trading hub.
At the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth emphasized stable US-China relations while declaring an end to subsidizing allied defense, notably avoiding discussion of Taiwan and Iran. China's absence from the summit drew criticism from Germany's defense chief, while Indo-Pacific nations responded by deepening regional defense partnerships independent of US leadership.
Singapore Health Minister Ong Ye Kung and healthcare industry experts warn that public distrust could derail AI implementation in healthcare, calling for balanced approaches to patient data and responsible deployment frameworks. Singapore is piloting AI clinical decision support tools through its SIMFONI initiative for chronic disease management.
Singapore Health Minister Ong Ye Kung and healthcare industry experts highlight that public distrust poses a fundamental barrier to AI adoption in healthcare, as the sector continues to lag behind other industries in implementation despite initiatives like Singapore's SIMFONI AI model for chronic disease management.
