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Daily Brief · FinTech · Crypto

SEA Daily Brief: Standard Chartered Plans Digital Asset Custody in Singapore, U Mobile Brings SIM-Based Verification to Malaysia, and Revolut Commits Nearly S$350 Million to Singapore

Standard Chartered said it plans to offer custody for selected cryptoassets, stablecoins and tokenised real-world assets to institutional clients in Singapore, subject to regulatory requirements. U Mobile launched SIM-based phone-number verification on its ULTRA5G network with Telenor Linx, reducing reliance on SMS one-time passwords. Revolut plans to invest nearly S$350 million in Singapore over five years, though it holds a Major Payment Institution licence rather than a banking licence.

October 8, 20264 min readSingapore · Malaysia · Standard Chartered · Digital Asset Custody · Tokenization · U Mobile · Digital Identity · Fraud Prevention · Revolut · Payments
Office workers cross a granite plaza at the foot of a glass and stone bank tower in a Singapore financial district under overcast midday light, with a security guard standing near the entrance and tropical planting along the plaza edge.
A financial-district plaza in Singapore, the setting for Standard Chartered's planned institutional digital asset custody service.

Standard Chartered Plans Digital Asset Custody for Institutional Clients in Singapore

Standard Chartered announced plans to offer custody for selected cryptoassets, stablecoins and tokenised real-world assets in Singapore. The proposed service is aimed at institutional clients and accredited investor corporate clients, and is described as subject to applicable regulatory requirements. The report states no licence or approval.

The bank would combine digital asset custody with its traditional asset servicing, complementing its Financing & Securities Services business. It already offers digital asset custody in the UAE, Luxembourg and Hong Kong, and has backed the institutional custodian Zodia Custody. Patrick Lee, CEO of Standard Chartered Singapore and CEO of ASEAN & South Asia, called Singapore "an important centre for financial innovation".

Sources

U Mobile and Telenor Linx Launch SIM-Based Phone-Number Verification in Malaysia

Malaysian operator U Mobile launched SIM-based phone-number verification on its ULTRA5G network through a partnership with Telenor Linx. Supported digital services can verify a user's mobile number without manual entry of an SMS one-time password (OTP). The network confirms that the device and SIM in use match the claimed phone number, targeting registration, login and identity-verification journeys.

U Mobile says the service shortens sign-up and sign-in flows and reduces reliance on SMS OTPs, which can be delayed, intercepted or socially engineered. Developers using Google Firebase can access the capability through the Telenor Linx partnership. The article gives no usage figures, and it does not mention MCMC or Bank Negara Malaysia.

Sources

Revolut Plans Nearly S$350 Million of Investment in Singapore Over Five Years

Revolut plans to invest nearly S$350 million in Singapore over the next five years. It signed a five-year lease for about 8,880 square feet at Collyer Quay Centre, with the office due to open in early 2027, and plans to grow its Singapore team to more than 300 employees over three years across engineering, product, data and AI.

The company says its Singapore workforce grew by more than 95 percent in 2025, domestic retail transaction volumes rose more than 30 percent year on year, and its local business customer base increased fivefold. Those figures are company-supplied and were not independently verified. Revolut Technologies Singapore is authorised by MAS as a Major Payment Institution and does not hold a Singapore banking licence.

Sources

Eyes on the Day Ahead

None of today's three stories carries a dated deadline in the next 24 to 48 hours, so this looks a few days out instead: whether MAS or Standard Chartered disclose the regulatory path for the Singapore custody service, and whether a second Malaysian operator joins SIM-based verification. Neither has been scheduled in the sources reviewed.

Layer 7 Ventures is a research-driven firm focused on AI and cryptocurrency in Southeast Asia. Views expressed are those of the firm and do not constitute investment advice.

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