Oil rises over 2% as investors weigh market outlook, tariffs, sanctions
Brent crude futures settled up US$1.72, or 2.5 per cent, at US$70.36 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained US$1.88, or 2.8 per cent, to US$68.45 a barrel.
For the week, Brent rose 3 per cent, while WTI had a weekly gain of around 2.2 per cent.
The IEA said the global oil market may be tighter than it appears, with demand supported by peak summer refinery runs to meet travel and power generation.
Front-month September Brent contracts were trading at about a US$1.20 premium to October futures.
'The market is starting to realise that supplies are tight,' said Phil Flynn, senior analyst with Price Futures Group.
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US energy firms this week cut the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating for an 11th straight week, energy services firm Baker Hughes said. The last time that happened was July 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic cut demand for fuel.
Short-term market tightness notwithstanding, the IEA boosted its forecast for supply growth this year, while trimming its outlook for growth in demand, implying a market in surplus.
'Opec+ will quickly and significantly turn up the oil tap. There is a threat of significant oversupply. In the short term, however, oil prices remain supported,' Commerzbank analysts said. Opec+ is the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus allies including Russia.
Further adding support to the short-term price outlook, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia will compensate for overproduction against its Opec+ quota this year in the August-September period.
Another sign of robust short-term demand was the prospect of Saudi Arabia shipping about 51 million barrels of crude oil in August to China, the biggest such shipment in more than two years.
On a longer-term basis, however, Opec cut its forecasts for global oil demand in the 2026 to 2029 period because of slowing Chinese demand in its 2025 World Oil Outlook, published on Thursday.
Saudi Arabia's energy ministry said on Friday the kingdom had been fully compliant with its voluntary Opec+ output target.
On Thursday, both benchmark futures contracts lost more than 2 per cent as investors worried about the impact of US President Donald Trump's tariffs on global economic growth and oil demand.
Trump told NBC News on Thursday that he will make a 'major statement' on Russia on Monday, without elaborating. Trump has expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin due to the lack of progress in ending the war in Ukraine and Russia's intensifying bombardment of Ukrainian cities.
The European Commission is set to propose a floating Russian oil price cap this week as part of a new draft sanctions package, but Russia said it has 'good experience' of tackling and minimising such challenges. REUTERS
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AsiaOne
3 hours ago
- AsiaOne
Trump announces peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, World News
WASHINGTON - Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a US-brokered peace agreement on Friday (Aug 8) during a meeting with US President Donald Trump that would boost bilateral economic ties after decades of conflict and move them toward a full normalisation of their relations. The deal between the South Caucasus rivals - assuming it holds - would be a significant accomplishment for the Trump administration that is sure to rattle Moscow, which sees the region as within its sphere of influence. "It's a long time - 35 years - they fought and now they're friends, and they're going to be friends for a long time," Trump said at a signing ceremony at the White House, where he was flanked by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at odds since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting almost all of the territory's 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia. Trump said the two countries had committed to stop fighting, open up diplomatic relations and respect each other's territorial integrity. The agreement includes exclusive US development rights to a strategic transit corridor through the South Caucasus that the White House said would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources. Trump said the United States signed separate deals with each country to expand co-operation on energy, trade and technology, including artificial intelligence. Details were not released. He said restrictions had also been lifted on defence co-operation between Azerbaijan and the United States, a development that could also worry Moscow. Both leaders praised Trump for helping to end the conflict and said they would nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Trump has tried to present himself as a global peacemaker in the first months of his second term. The White House credits him with brokering a ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand and sealing peace deals between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Pakistan and India. However, he has not managed to end Russia's 3-1/2-year-old war in Ukraine or Israel's conflict with Hamas in Gaza. Trump on Friday said he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Aug 15 to work on ending the war. Ending sanctions evasion blind spot US officials said the agreement was hammered out during repeated visits to the region and would provide a basis for working toward a full normalisation between the countries. The peace deal could transform the South Caucasus, an energy-producing region neighbouring Russia, Europe, Turkey and Iran that is criss-crossed by oil and gas pipelines but riven by closed borders and longstanding ethnic conflicts. Brett Erickson, a sanctions expert and adviser to Loyola University's Chicago School of Law, said the agreement would help the West crack down on Russian efforts to evade sanctions. "The Caucasus has been a blind spot in sanctions policy," he said. "A formal peace creates a platform for the West to engage Armenia and Azerbaijan ... to shut down the evasion pipelines." Tina Dolbaia, an associate fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Friday's signing was a big symbolic move, but many questions remained, including which US companies might control the new transit corridor and how involved Armenia and Azerbaijan would be in its construction. [[nid:720408]] She said Russia would likely be irritated by being excluded from the agreement and the US role in the corridor. "Now the fact that ... Armenians are shaking hands with Azerbaijanis, and they are talking about US involvement in this corridor - this is huge for Russia," she said. Olesya Vartanyan, an independent regional expert, said the deal added greater predictability to the region, but its long-term prospects would depend on continued US engagement. "Armenia and Azerbaijan ... have a much longer track record of failed negotiations and violent escalations than of peaceful resolutions," she said. "Without proper and continued US involvement, the issue will likely get deadlocked again, increasing the chances of renewed tensions." Senior administration officials said the agreement marked the end to the first of several frozen conflicts on Russia's periphery since the end of the Cold War, sending a powerful signal to the entire region. Armenia plans to award the US exclusive special development rights for an extended period on the transit corridor, US officials told Reuters this week. The so-called Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity has already drawn interest from nine companies, including three US firms, one official said on condition of anonymity. Daphne Panayotatos, with the Washington-based rights group Freedom Now, said it had urged the Trump administration to use the meeting with Aliyev to demand the release of some 375 political prisoners held in the country. Azerbaijan, an oil-producing country that hosted the United Nations climate summit last November, has rejected Western criticism of its human rights record, describing it as unacceptable interference.
Straits Times
4 hours ago
- Straits Times
The crypto bros are back: ‘The hubris never really left'
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox SINGAPORE – Ask anyone working or investing in crypto about the industry's outlook in 2022, and he or she would likely have pursed his or her lips. That year saw a series of headline-grabbing implosions. FTX, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges at the time, filed for bankruptcy. Singapore-based crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital collapsed, owing creditors over US$3 billion (S$3.85 billion). Cryptocurrencies TerraUSD and Luna cratered in value, collectively wiping out US$45 billion in market cap. Cryptocurrency values plummeted as layoffs rocked the sector, with industry watchers heralding the start of a crypto winter. Three years on, the mood has shifted. Bitcoin's value has soared to historic highs of over US$100,000 – it topped $140,000 in January – buoyed by US President Donald Trump's crypto-friendly administration, and the growing adoption of cryptocurrencies by large financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs, BlackRock and DBS. The world's largest crypto conference, Token2049, expects to welcome 25,000 participants to Singapore in October. When the event first launched here in 2022, it drew around 7,000 attendees spread out across one floor of the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre. In 2025, the conference will sprawl across five floors. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. World Trump says he will meet Putin on Aug 15 in Alaska Opinion This US-India spat is going from bad to worse Asia Chinese villagers hit by worst floods in generations say they had no warning Singapore 'This is home', for retired shop owner putting up 11th flag display in Toa Payoh to mark SG60 Singapore Nation building is every Singaporean's responsibility, not the work of one party alone: Pritam Asia 'Very nerdy' hobby of doujinshi self-publishing is a growing billion-dollar market in Japan Business Are you set to retire comfortably in Singapore? Business When a couple's two-home dream turns into nightmare The crypto bros (and girls) are back, with a vengeance. Among the 15 who spoke to The Straits Times, the mood is optimistic, even celebratory. 'Post-Trump's election, crypto has been on a tear upwards,' says Mr Kaushik Swaminathan, 29, head of strategy at Web3 security firm Zellic. Web3 is a term used by the industry to refer to a new iteration of the web fuelled by blockchain technology. 'When the price goes up, people feel rich. When people feel rich, they do indulgent things,' says the Yale-NUS College liberal arts graduate. 'So, while the broader tech market may be compressing or in a hiring slowdown, crypto kind of feels like it's facing the opposite.' He points to the recent EthCC crypto conference attended by 6,400 in Cannes as evidence. The city in the south of France, a popular spot for the rich and famous, was 'overwhelmed by crypto people' in June in events that took over yachts, chateaus and Michelin-starred restaurants. 'If you are in the beautiful French Riviera in the middle of summer for a 'work conference', then things are probably doing fine,' he muses. 'The hubris never really left crypto, but when Bitcoin is trading above US$100,000, people are willing to do more of this kind of stuff.' Token2049's conference in Singapore in 2024 drew over 20,000 participants. PHOTO: TOKEN2049 Increasingly, crypto bro culture – born of internet memes lampooning central banks and counter-cultural idealism about decentralised finance – is making inroads into the mainstream. It is now gaining converts among fresh graduates who might once have gunned for careers in traditional finance or big tech, despite its enduring relationship with scandal. Anti-establishment vibe The mixture of idealism and opportunism in crypto has spawned an industry culture with an 'anti-establishment' vibe unlike that of traditional tech and finance. Singaporean crypto enthusiast Imran Mohamad, 41, recalls once being gifted a thumb drive containing some bitcoins by an enthusiastic entrepreneur in 2010. Back then, it was a little-known technology mostly discussed in fringe internet forums and was valued in mere cents. 'I have no idea where that thumb drive went,' says Mr Imran, head of marketing (Apac) for blockchain company Move Industries. 'If I had foresight, maybe I wouldn't even need to have this interview with you.' Mr Imran Mohamad's career in crypto has charted the sector's many boom and bust cycles. PHOTO: COURTESY OF IMRAN MOHAMAD Thereafter, his on-again-off-again relationship with the crypto sector mirrored its many boom-bust cycles. During the 2017 initial coin offering (ICO) boom, he ran a marketing agency that worked with crypto clients. 'For most of those companies, nothing ever materialised,' says the National University of Singapore (NUS) business graduate. 'Who really won here was the person who minted the tokens – and ran.' These online sales, opened to the public, were driven by social media hype and revolved around white papers laying out how proceeds would be used to develop a 'hot new token', as well as how much investors would gain by buying in early. After he soured on the industry after having to threaten some crypto clients with legal action over non-payment of fees, he later returned to the industry in 2022 to head marketing for Kyber Network, a crypto trading platform – until it was hacked for assets valued at over US$50 million. While Kyber eventually paid off its creditors, he notes they still lost out on the potential gains of their investments. Such experiences are not uncommon in crypto, with insiders sharing the heady mixture of 'fear of missing out' (Fomo), deeply held optimism and even an acceptance that malicious behaviour is the norm. Instead of introducing themselves on LinkedIn or proffering business cards, crypto workers usually prefer communicating over Telegram and X (formerly known as Twitter) or rubbing shoulders at events that blur the boundaries between work and play. Mr Aneirin Flynn (left, pictured at the start-up competition Meet The Drapers) opted not to go to university so he could get straight into working. PHOTO: FAILSAFE Young Singaporeans like Mr Aneirin Flynn, 31, are emblematic of the subculture's freewheeling approach. As chief executive and founder of a crypto cybersecurity start-up, he has hired an engineer who once hacked into his firm by finding a vulnerability in its code. Many in the sector operate under the veil of anonymity, and avoid putting out their real names and pictures online out of fear of being doxxed and hacked. 'He didn't want to tell us his real name or where he was from,' says Mr Flynn, who adds that he later found out the hacker was based in Egypt. After a few months of working together and building trust, the hacker turned out to be 'one of the good guys'. He adds: 'Today, he's a real pillar of our company. This big burly man with a huge beard and kids, who's the friendliest guy ever.' However, he concedes: 'But there was a real chance that he could have been a bad guy.' Even the idea behind Mr Flynn's firm, FailSafe, was inspired by a hack in 2022 that cost him around $20,000 – something he suspects stems from him placing his trust in the wrong developer. After his A levels at Victoria Junior College, he skipped university to join a start-up. He notes that while Web3 espouses an idealistic and 'trustless' future of the internet without a central authority, the reality is that 'it means you're on your own'. The prevalence of fraud is why face-to-face interactions matter more now to crypto workers like Mr Flynn. So, while others might prefer to network through partying at the events which sprout up around the annual Token2049 conference, he prefers making connections through running events that mean 'sweating together and getting to know how we'd operate under intense circumstances'. Token2049's eclectic culture shines through in its meme-infused, unserious and casual vibe. PHOTOS: TOKEN2049 Token2049 exemplifies the industry's eclectic culture, with the Singapore-based event featuring speakers as diverse as Canadian Vitalik Buterin (co-founder of the Ethereum cryptocurrency), British F1 driver Lando Norris, American whistleblower Edward Snowden and Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. Insiders say the real activity happens not on the conference stage, but at the deluge of side events such as invite-only mixers and after-parties. At the expo, attendees can dip into ice-cold plunges and ride a mechanical bull, metres away from a panel discussion. Resistance money Meme culture infuses the annual Token2049 conference. 'Hodl' is a rallying cry for crypto investors to hold on to their assets despite turmoil. PHOTO: TOKEN2049 Part of the reason for the sector's counter-cultural energy – at the intersection of fringe internet communities, tech and finance – comes down to its origins. 'Crypto is by nature a rejection of financial institutions and central banks,' says Dr Andrew Bailey, a professor of philosophy at NUS and author of Resistance Money (2024), a book on Bitcoin. 'Someone who's attracted to that is likely to have suspicions about other kinds of institutions and norms as well.' The modern conception of cryptocurrency emerged in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, when libertarians, anarchists and criminals sought decentralised alternatives to what they saw as a financial system that no longer served their needs. Different generations have found different entry points to crypto. Its earliest adopters were computer programmers likely drawn in by fringe internet communities or online black markets, while later adopters, such as Gen Zs and younger millennials, were likely introduced by viral internet memes or influencers preaching a new pathway to success. Disillusionment is the common unifying force, says Dr Bailey. Many who have embraced the subculture feel they have detected a field where they can get an edge over others to achieve lucrative short-term gains. 'I don't want to be too dismissive of a desire to get ahead in a world they feel is unfair,' he says. 'The people I interact with who are aged 18 to 24, they feel that powerfully. I would say they feel that more powerfully now than their age group five to 10 years ago.' What results is a subculture dominated by those who are typically young, male, tech-savvy and displeased or dispossessed by financial institutions. Much like the tech industry, the crypto sector remains largely male-dominated. PHOTO: TOKEN2049 One face of the shifting public attitudes towards cryptocurrency is Mr Jeremy Tan, 34, a businessman and crypto investor who contested the 2025 General Election as an independent candidate for Mountbatten SMC. Part of his platform included calling for the Government to adopt Bitcoin as a reserve currency. Mr Tan says the end of the 2008 financial crisis birthed a new 'eat the rich' and 'Occupy Wall Street' counter-culture that sparked his interest in Bitcoin – something he is drawn to because of his impoverished upbringing and his desire to find an asset that would not depreciate over time. 'Now, we are seeing the same type of movement,' says the Nanyang Technological University business graduate, opining that similar disgruntlement over the economy is fuelling interest in crypto among Singaporeans today. 'Our generation's 'Occupy Wall Street' will be of artificial intelligence and youth unemployment.' Such thinking is echoed by other enthusiasts and advocates who spoke to ST. Some complain of being unable to join the 'high-net-worth club' because of an 'unfair' financial system, and extol cryptocurrency's potential to level the playing field by creating a new scene without established experts. However, Web3's decentralising ethos does not mean crypto subculture can self-regulate or has a coherent ideology. Though the technology was initially envisioned as a 'superior' alternative to centralised finance, most crypto workers speaking to ST see growing interest from regulators and banks as a positive sign. Mr Tan weighs in on how he resolves this ideological tension.'The original ideology is that money is being debased, and we need to fight governments with 'resistance money'. 'I would say the original ideology is starting to meet its updated form, because stablecoins and Bitcoin enable one type of revolution to occur, which is to finally rely on technology and mathematics instead of poor fiscal planning.' Not unlike the Wolf of Wall Street An after-party for Token2049 Singapore 2024. PHOTO: TOKEN2049 This anti-establishment vibe is one that many in the field are eager to shed. Nearly all industry insiders ST spoke to sought to downplay the sector's links to high-rolling excesses and jet-setting, instead preferring to focus on the ways the sector has 'grown up' since 2017. Mr Joash Lee is a 22-year-old Columbia University student who invests in Web3 and AI start-ups through Iron Key Capital, a club where funds are pooled to invest in start-ups. He says while it is not uncommon to see crypto firms or conferences rent yachts and nightclubs for events, this is tame compared with the 'free money' era pre-2022, when slapping 'Web3' on a pitch deck meant that venture capital would line up to fund one's seed round. Others say the sector's 'youth' explains its predisposition towards such a lifestyle, or splurging on models and influencers to fill out one's entourage, and creating costumes and parties referencing obscure internet memes. Dr Loretta Chen (pictured at Token2049) believes the excesses that crypto is associated with are a sign of the sector's youth. PHOTO: SMOBLER 'When this whole notion of cryptocurrency was unleashed, it was the younger generation and digitally savvy that embraced it,' says Dr Loretta Chen, 48, founder and chief executive of local Web3 start-up Smobler. 'With this sudden flush of cash, when you're young, you will say, 'Wow, let's go throw a party', right?' Frequent comparisons were made with the excesses of 1980s Wall Street – as depicted in the 2013 movie The Wolf Of Wall Street – before regulation started to instil discipline. Ms Soh Wan Wei (right) with Hide the Pain Harold (a popular internet meme) at an ARC Community party in 2024. Members of ARC got to buy the Memeland token at an early stage. PHOTO: COURTESY OF SOH WAN WEI Another visible example of the sector's embrace of party culture is the private members' club ARC Community, known for its extravagant annual parties held by its Singaporean co-founders, which include singer JJ Lin and influencer Elroy Cheo. Members of this social club must own its non-fungible tokens (NFT), a type of digital asset, which are now being sold on online marketplace OpenSea starting at $4,000. Members received early access to purchase the Memecoin cryptocurrency created by internet culture website 9GAG, whose founder is also an ARC member. In 2024, they gathered for a meme-infused celebration featuring guests like Hide the Pain Harold, the coin's ambassador. The coin has since plummeted in value. In response to queries, ARC Community's head of brand Jaclyn Lee declined to discuss its parties or the lifestyles and networking habits of its members. 'We try not to go with these kinds of angles because it kind of furthers the impression that Web3 is not seen as very legitimate,' she says. This sensitivity to outside perception explains why the crypto world increasingly shuns talk of its parties and founders' high life, in favour of glossy magazine spreads about a founder's story and how he or she fell in love with the technology instead. Chasing waterfalls Members of the sector are eager to downplay its relationship with partying and jet-setting. PHOTO: TOKEN2049 The technology that underpins cryptocurrency remains in its early stages, which means that while some use cases exist, rampant speculation remains the norm, notes Dr Li Xiaofan, an assistant professor at NUS who researches cryptocurrency and cybersecurity. Dr Li recalls past examples of students being inspired to take on internships and a career in the crypto sector, only to emerge disillusioned. 'They thought they would be designing systems, or trying to improve it in certain areas, but in the end, they realised it's more like sales,' he says. 'Getting clients and money is much more important than developing the technology.' Lack of cryptocurrency regulations in many parts of the world means the magnetic pull of short-term gains – typically by exploiting gaps in investor information – can be impossible to resist. The ICO bubble of 2017 was the result of a flood of interest from members of the public, many of whom acted out of a fear of missing out on being an early investor in an Apple- or Google-like tech offering. But unlike initial public offerings (IPOs), the risk is not mitigated by financial reports and auditors, making investing in some crypto assets akin to operating in the thick fog of war. This involves scams and other activities where insiders profit at the expense of others left holding the bag, misrepresenting the extent to which a product actually involves blockchain technology, and building ecosystems to facilitate more crypto activities. 'People attracted to this industry do have certain qualities,' observes Dr Li. 'In my opinion, this may delay its development for the long-term good.' Experts say hype and speculation drive the crypto sector's focus on quick profits over long-term value. PHOTO: TOKEN2049 'The way to make money in crypto is to think of this as a waterfall of sh**,' Dr Bailey sums up a commonly held worldview in crypto bro circles. 'Either the sh** is falling on you, or you're higher up and safe from it and sh**ting on others instead.' This normalisation of malicious behaviour is echoed by many in the industry. For instance, one marketing professional argues that the 'extremely high failure rate' is not unlike that of tech start-ups. Another, when asked how he felt after the high-profile crashes of 2022, says 'it's normal to go through such things' and that it is outweighed by the joy of being in an emerging sector. The idea of a 'zero sum game', where profiting means somebody else must lose out, is common terminology. 'It is PvP (player versus player), not PvE (player versus environment),' Dr Bailey adds, referring to the video game labels for competitive instead of cooperative gameplay often used by crypto users. 'If you are taking something out, someone is putting that money in.' Yale-NUS College graduate Kaushik Swaminathan says after working in the sector since 2021, he has become wired to think in a more transactional way. PHOTO: COURTESY OF KAUSHIK SWAMINATHAN As Mr Swaminathan observes: 'People get upset at crypto when they lose money, and excited when they make money. Nobody really cares about the scandals, it's just that the downstream effect of the scandals is that they lose money. You need to have thick skin to survive in crypto, and those who have are mostly numb to the noise of the outside world.' Something he finds unsettling is how, after working in the sector since 2021, he has become wired to think in a 'more transactional' way. 'This is not something I love,' he says. 'Once you're in the crypto black hole, money becomes the currency or language of every interaction.' This means when someone approaches him at a conference with an idea, his default state of mind is if he is about to be taken advantage of. 'People use the phrase: 'I don't want to be your exit liquidity',' he says, explaining that it means 'I don't want to be the sucker that you're able to offload your things on'. 'Cultish' Ms Soh Wan Wei, 37, who has been investing and working in the crypto sector since 2017, takes a harsher view, saying she is not a fan of the 'I do what I want' culture that she sees as pervasive in the scene. Ms Soh Wan Wei (pictured speaking at a fintech event) says money warps the morality of those working in crypto. PHOTO: SIBOS 'You have people from Binance going to jail, and coming out, and people treat him like a god,' she says, referring to crypto exchange Binance's former chief executive Changpeng Zhao's four-month prison sentence for money laundering in 2024. 'If suddenly one's net worth goes up by 1,000 times, you will treat the guy as a god,' she adds. 'It's very cultish.' There is a sense that wealth equals morality, she adds. She recalls instances when crypto bros would flex by showing off pictures of themselves in castles and helicopters. Wanting to build rapport, she would 'just clap for him and say 'good for you, I'm so happy for you'.' Still, she concedes there is an addictive quality to the sector's volatility. Despite the threat of 'rug pulls' – where founders flee with investors' funds – and seeing the value of one's assets nosedive, the adrenaline high of a successful bet is alluring. 'The feeling is like buying Labubus.' These days, she prefers to stay away from crypto conferences. 'The barrier to entry is so low,' she adds. 'Just buy Bitcoin and get rich off it.' Such volatility also sharpens the subculture's ideological zeal as it weeds out those without sufficient grit or belief to hold on after a high-profile crash. A few weeks after joining Web3 software company Animoca Brands in 2022, Mr Brian Chan witnessed an industry rattled by the high-profile conflagration of the Luna cryptocurrency, followed by FTX's spiral, which signalled the start of the industry's bear market era. 'The volatility of crypto is a feature, not a bug, of the industry,' says Mr Chan. Splitting his time between Hong Kong and Singapore as Animoca Brands' deputy chief executive, he heads the development of a blockchain chess game Anichess, in collaboration with This volatility flushed out some 'non-believers' not only at Animoca but also across the sector, he observes. The company has a staff strength of 10 in Singapore. The uncertainty also guides how recruiting managers in the sector sift out applicants. 'When we hire, we do look at culture and values,' says Mr Chan. 'When I hire my specific teams, I care less about their CVs and their resumes, and I care more about what they have actually done in the space. That will give you some indication whether that person is in it for the long term. Whether he or she is a true believer or is solely in it for the upside.' This emphasis on non-traditional metrics is part of what makes the sector so appealing to young and hungry talent, especially when compared with traditional finance, where brand-name university qualifications reign supreme. Still, Mr Chan identifies something different about the newest wave of interest in the sector. While past cycles of growth were driven by the 'euphoria of pumping and dumping', 2025 is seeing more and more suits lending the scene new-found legitimacy. Is Singapore becoming a crypto capital? The OKX Singapore office at the Marina Bay Financial Centre. The company has over 900 employees in Singapore. PHOTO: OKX SINGAPORE While crypto bro culture is facing a resurgence globally, industry insiders are divided on whether Singapore is becoming a crypto capital as local regulations paint a complex picture. In June, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) tightened the rules, requiring crypto service providers serving customers outside of Singapore to be licensed. Previously, only those serving Singapore customers needed to be. Other restrictions also include a ban on crypto companies advertising their services in Singapore, as well as requiring providers to perform customer due diligence and report suspicious transactions. Experts speaking to ST say several issues hinder proper regulation of the sector. These include the lack of tools for auditors to ensure smart contracts (computer programs that run on blockchains) work properly and safely, the prevalence of cybercrime, the ease of anonymity and market manipulation, and the lack of responsible authorities in many cases. 'While the promise of blockchain and cryptocurrency is enormous, regulators need to address these complex challenges head-on,' says Dr Daniel Rabetti, an assistant professor at the NUS Business School. Asset tokenisation remains one promising use case of the technology, he adds. This refers to the ability to represent real-world assets as digital tokens, thereby democratising access to traditionally illiquid markets and creating a greater level of financial inclusion. Industry insiders say over the years, a shift towards institutionalisation has meant an exodus of those who prefer to operate in the greyer areas of the crypto world, as well as those who reject compliance and monitoring requirements. On Aug 1, the Singapore Police Force and MAS announced that local cryptocurrency trading platform Tokenize Xchange was under investigation. A director of its parent company was also charged with fraudulent trading. Prior to this, the company said it had ceased operations in Singapore and was relocating to Malaysia. Meanwhile, news agency Bloomberg reported in June that unlicensed exchanges such as Bitget and Bybit were planning to shift existing operations in Singapore to Dubai and Hong Kong. At the same time, the highly remote nature of the crypto sector means that many who work for unlicensed exchanges – which are not allowed to solicit Singapore customers – such as Binance continue to live and work out of Singapore. It is not just regulation that plays a role, as some argue that crypto's emphasis on decentralisation and breaking with norms appears to be incompatible with Singapore's emphasis on centralisation and stability. Privately, some say the sector's workers are more likely to embrace non-traditional ways of living that can be hard to live out in relatively conservative Singapore. One of the most headline-grabbing aspects of the FTX collapse was its leaders' co-living and polyamory, or having multiple partners. Indeed, the size and density of Singapore's crypto scene means nearly everyone knows everyone else, creating a vibe akin to a 'village' or 'middle school', rather than a growing hub, outside of conference season. This means gossip travels quickly and people can close ranks easily. Dr Loretta Chen (right) believes that Singapore's crypto regulations mean firms here can tout compliance as their competitive edge. PHOTO: SMOBLER However, enthusiasts like Dr Chen are optimistic about Singapore, arguing that the Republic is a natural hub for 'incredibly intelligent people' and high-net-worth individuals because of its reputation for safety and strong regulatory frameworks. She notes that whenever Mr Buterin visits the country, he does so without a security entourage and uses public transport, something that cannot be done in other crypto hubs. Being in Singapore also engenders a different kind of company set-up, says Dr Chen, who adds that Smobler stays away from the temptation of short-term profit of 'sh**coins and memecoins' and has diversified by going into AI and virtual reality. 'The technology lends itself to it, and many jump on that bandwagon, but we do not,' she adds, noting a long-term orientation is necessary for working closely with financial institutions and regulators. 'Regulation provides training wheels and guardrails,' says Mr Swaminathan. 'We can't be cowboys forever.' Enter the suits As regulators and financial institutions increasingly engage with crypto bros across the globe, it is giving the sector a growing veneer of legitimacy. This is channelling in more workers who might once have been destined for traditional finance or consulting careers. Crypto enthusiasts like Mr Tan note that as banks and family offices increasingly discuss crypto and hold related events, it has created a 'movement away from the original crypto bro Twitter culture'. Mr Hassan Ahmed (top right, with the Coinbase Singapore team) says the company is seeing an influx of interest from applicants. PHOTO: COINBASE Mr Hassan Ahmed, Singapore country director for Coinbase, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, echoes this viewpoint. 'The regulatory uncertainty was not just weighing on companies and capital allocators, but also on job applicants,' he says, referring to the pre-2025 years. 'Perhaps I wouldn't want to make my career path in an industry that might be driven offshore.' Coinbase has a staff strength of about 100 in Singapore. Mr Ahmed notes it is now seeing a record number of applicants. Similarly, crypto exchange OKX Singapore's chief executive Gracie Lin, 43, says her 900-strong firm has seen a strong uptick in interest from applicants. There were three times the number of applications in the first half of 2025 than over the same period in 2024. Such interest is not only confined to 'Web3 natives', but also from experienced applicants from traditional tech and finance, as well as new graduates. 'It feels like the industry has entered a more confident, post-winter phase, and regulatory clarity in Singapore and other key markets has definitely contributed to that momentum,' she says. This change is also visible at Token2049. Mr Chua Ee Chien, Token2049's commercial director, says the conference is seeing a surge of interest from organisations outside the world of crypto. PHOTO: TOKEN2049 Mr Chua Ee Chien, 37, the conference's commercial director, says four years ago, all the speakers at the event were from the crypto sector. More recently, it has welcomed speakers from BlackRock and Goldman Sachs. Attendees say this can at times create a puzzling mish-mash of cultures. On one side, suited bankers and regulators hold roundtable discussions. On the other side, men in T-shirts and shorts rub shoulders with scantily clad women in costumes or jump into cold plunges. 'And I'm sitting here thinking this is the reason crypto doesn't have more adoption on the institutional level yet,' says Mr Flynn. 'But that paradox, it's fascinating. It's what draws people like me to the space.' One such person making a hard pivot from traditional finance to crypto is Mr Eddie Hui, 50, who relocated to Singapore in 2022 from France to join MetaComp after 23 years at French bank Societe Generale. MetaComp is a digital payment solution provider, with products including a cross-border payment infrastructure powered by stablecoins, typically cryptocurrencies pegged to an existing currency like the US dollar. 'Up until recently, if you mention digital assets, people wouldn't know what you're talking about,' he says. 'If you mention crypto, they'll say it's a scam. But with the Genius Act, it really brings a lot of legitimacy into the space.' The Genius Act is a US federal law aiming to create a comprehensive regulatory framework for stablecoins, which was signed into law by President Trump in July. Dr Emiliano Pagnotta, an associate professor of finance at Singapore Management University, says stablecoins have emerged as the dominant use of crypto. In 2024, on-chain stablecoin settlement volumes surpassed US$15 trillion, eclipsing both Visa and Mastercard. 'Yet, despite this growth, regulatory ambiguity has remained a barrier to broader adoption. That changed with the recent passage of the Genius Act in the US,' he says. Dr Pagnotta adds that Bitcoin has also become a household name, and is now only behind gold and the top six US firms in market cap (Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet/Google and Meta). Since the launch of US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products in 2024, integration with traditional finance has accelerated, drawing over US$54 billion in inflows. 'In 2025, a notable trend has emerged: corporations acquiring Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset,' he says. 'Overall, this momentum is unlikely to fade, given persistent global concerns over fiat debasement, geopolitical instability and property rights erosion.' Meanwhile, Dr Christian Hofmann, an associate professor at the NUS faculty of law, says even central banks are now exploring the use of similar technologies. 'Of particular interest is the concept of wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) – a tokenised form of central bank money,' says Dr Hofmann. 'Especially in the context of cross-border transactions, such CBDCs could facilitate inter-jurisdictional payments and reduce dependence on existing private-sector intermediaries, notably the correspondent banking network.' Mr Eddie Hui, who made a hard pivot from banking to crypto, is emblematic of the growing institutionalisation of the sector. PHOTO: METACOMP For Mr Hui, a long-time banker, making the shift to crypto has not been without growing pains. For one thing, there is the constant need to educate and explain the product when dealing with traditional finance institutions. 'I never expected to be doubted in my field of work,' he says. 'You need to do a lot of education for people to understand what you're trying to do.' 'It's very different from the banking industry, where everyone who wants to work in the industry has studied finance at some point,' he says. 'When you work in crypto or digital finance, you cannot say, 'Please find me a candidate with over 10 years of experience.' There are a few of them, but it's more difficult to find.' Still, Mr Hui concedes that many of the firm's senior staff come from traditional finance backgrounds. 'All this experience and knowledge we acquired in traditional finance, what we're trying to do is apply it to the digital assets space as well.' For some of the insiders who spoke to ST, such institutionalisation marks a shift away from the sector's wilder and more informal subcultural origins – once premised on distrust towards centralised finance. 'The traditional prestige indicators that you normally look for in investment, banking or traditional tech roles – they're all coming into crypto,' says Mr Swaminathan. 'People care about your Ivy League education, your big tech resumes,' he says. 'They care about things that five to eight years ago, they certainly didn't. Now, it's frankly not all that different from if you were applying for a job at Google.'
Business Times
4 hours ago
- Business Times
US licenses Nvidia to export chips to China, official says
[BENGALURU] The commerce department has started issuing licences to Nvidia to export its H20 chips to China, a US official told Reuters on Friday (Aug 8), removing a significant hurdle to the artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether's access to a key market. The US last month reversed an April ban on the sale of the H20 chip to China. The company had tailored the microprocessor specially to the Chinese market to comply with the Biden-era AI chip export controls. The curbs will slice US$8 billion off sales from its July quarter, the chipmaker has warned. Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang met with Trump on Wednesday, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. A spokesperson for Nvidia declined comment. A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company said in July it was filing applications with the US government to resume sales to China of the H20 graphics processing unit, and had been assured it would get the licences soon. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up It is unclear how many licences may have been issued, which companies Nvidia is allowed to ship the H20s to, and the value of the shipments allowed. Nvidia disclosed in April that it expected a US$5.5 billion charge related to the restrictions. In May, Nvidia said the actual first-quarter charge due to the H20 restrictions was US$1 billion less than expected because it was able to reuse some materials. The Financial Times first reported Friday's developments. Nvidia said last month that its products have no 'backdoors' that would allow remote access or control after China raised concerns over potential security risks in the H20 chip. Big market Exports of Nvidia's other advanced AI chips, barring the H20, to China are still restricted. Successive US administrations have curbed exports of advanced chips to China, looking to stymie Beijing's AI and defence development. While this has impacted US firms' ability to fully address booming demand from China, one of the world's largest semiconductor markets, it still remains an important revenue driver for American chipmakers. Huang has said the company's leadership position could slip without sales to China, where developers were being courted by Huawei Technologies with chips produced in China. In May, Nvidia said the H20 had brought in US$4.6 billion in sales in the first quarter and that China accounted for 12.5 per cent of overall revenue during the period. REUTERS
