Crypto

Singapore drops cryptocurrency use for gambling citing money laundering concerns

Published

1 year ago

September 11, 2024

Singapore drops cryptocurrency use for gambling citing money laundering concerns

Singaporean regulators have no plans to allow cryptocurrency use for gambling due to the risks of money laundering.

During a Sept. 10 parliamentary address, Ms Sun Xueling, Minister of State for the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Social and Family Development, clarified Singapore’s regulatory stance on using cryptocurrencies in casino gambling. The minister’s remarks were made during the wrap-up speech for the Second Reading of the Casino Control (Amendment) Bill.

Introduced on July 4, 2024, the bill aims to future-proof the framework governing casino gambling activities in Singapore, while giving the Gambling Regulatory Authority the power to prescribe any wagering instrument as chips for casino gambling.

However, the minister has stressed that cryptocurrencies will not be part of this expanded scope.

While the amendments to Singapore’s Casino Control Act were promoted as a step toward “future-proofing the regime” and establishing a framework for “cashless gambling,” the Minister of State firmly ruled out the use of cryptocurrencies citing money laundering concerns.

“GRA has no intention of allowing cryptocurrency to be used as chips for casino gambling as this presents money laundering risks.“
Ms Sun Xueling, Minister of State for the Ministry of Home Affairs

Singapore’s exclusion of cryptocurrencies from its casino operations aligns with a growing recognition of the risks they pose in the realm of money laundering.

According to a January 2024 report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, cryptocurrencies and casinos have increasingly become tools for laundering illicit funds, with criminal networks exploiting the anonymity and lack of regulation associated with digital currencies to obscure the origins of illicit funds, using online casinos as conduits.

“Organized crime groups have converged where they see vulnerabilities, and casinos and crypto have proven the point of least resistance.”
Jeremy Douglas, UNODC Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific

A growing trend

Boycotting cryptocurrencies for gambling is part of a broader trend, as seen in Australia, where the government recently banned cryptocurrencies for online betting, including digital wallets and credit-linked cards, to help individuals maintain control over their gambling habits.

Similarly, Brazil has also banned the use of cryptocurrencies for gambling payments in April 2024, targeting digital assets like Bitcoin to enhance transparency and reduce the potential for money laundering.

Nevertheless, the global crypto gambling market tells a different story altogether. As previously reported by crypto.news, the crypto gambling market almost doubled to over $70 billion in the first half of 2024, with projections pointing toward a staggering $150 billion by 2030.

Crypto

XRP Positions as Institutional Rail While RLUSD Enters Real-World Finance

Published

12 hours ago

January 28, 2026

Press Room

XRP Positions as Institutional Rail While RLUSD Enters Real-World Finance

XRP is cementing its role in live institutional payment infrastructure as Ripple’s RLUSD anchors regulated stablecoin settlement, signaling blockchain rails are now trusted, production-grade systems for global liquidity, cross-border payments, and high-value financial flows.

Crypto

Crypto Crime Wave Fueled by Chinese-Language Money Laundering | PYMNTS.com

Published

1 day ago

January 27, 2026

Press Room

Crypto Crime Wave Fueled by Chinese-Language Money Laundering | PYMNTS.com

Cryptocurrency laundering was an $82 billion problem last year, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday (Jan. 27), citing data from blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis.

Chinese-language money laundering networks made up $16.1 billion of that total as they play an increasing role in crypto crime, the report said.

“These are groups that are growing exponentially,” Andrew Fierman, head of national security intelligence at Chainalysis, told Bloomberg, per the report. “We’re talking about growth of over 7,300 times faster than other illicit flows.”

Although China has outlawed crypto transactions, illegal activity continues as the government chiefly focuses on behavior that threatens capital controls or financial stability, according to the report.

The networks “have really embraced cryptocurrencies,” said Kathryn Westmore, a senior associate fellow at the Centre for Finance and Security at RUSI, per the report, adding that crypto provides “a way to launder the proceeds of cash-generating criminal activities, like drugs or fraud.”

The news followed a warning from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in August, which said Chinese money laundering networks are now among the most significant threats to the American financial system, helping fuel the operations of Mexico’s most powerful drug cartels.

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“The networks have become effective partners because they can move cash quickly, absorb losses and leverage demand from Chinese nationals seeking to bypass Beijing’s strict currency controls,” PYMNTS reported Aug. 29. “By pairing cartel dollars with Chinese demand for U.S. currency, these networks have created what FinCEN called a ‘mutualistic relationship’ that strengthens both sides.”

Meanwhile, Eric Jardine, head of research at Chainalysis, discussed last year’s record-setting levels of crypto crime with PYMNTS in an interview published Monday (Jan. 26). Around $154 billion flowed to illicit addresses, the most ever recorded, and there was a 160% increase in illicit volumes.

“But treating that number as evidence of runaway criminal adoption may miss the more consequential story,” PYMNTS wrote. “What changed in 2025 was not merely volume, but the identity of the actors, the scale at which they operated, and the implications this has for banks, regulators, and the future architecture of financial blockchain compliance.”

The true inflection came from “a shift in who’s doing what,” Jardine said, adding that in 2025, nation states, most notably Russia, began taking part “in earnest in the crypto ecosystem,” chiefly through sanctions evasion.

Unlike earlier state-linked activity, like North Korea’s hacking campaigns, this was not marginal behavior at the edges of the system, but “industrial-scale financial activity conducted in plain sight,” PYMNTS wrote.

Crypto

Fixing BTC’s Quantum Issue Tops All Bitcoin Development Priorities, Says Willy Woo

Published

2 days ago

January 27, 2026

Press Room

Fixing BTC’s Quantum Issue Tops All Bitcoin Development Priorities, Says Willy Woo

Quantum risk is emerging as a decisive hurdle for bitcoin’s institutional future as sovereign investors weigh long-term resilience, pushing gold and BTC into sharper focus amid debt cycles, macro uncertainty, and geopolitical realignment, according to on-chain analyst Willy Woo.