The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued new guidelines on April 2, 2024 for consumer protection measures by Digital Payment Token (DPT) service providers [PS-G03]. These guidelines impose additional rules for dealings with retail clients, such as restrictions on facilitating lending and staking activities. Because of this, DPT service providers like Coinbase need to distinguish retail clients from other clients such as accredited and institutional investors.
Accredited investors explained
An accredited investor is a person who meets certain requirements defined by the MAS and has opted to be treated as an Accredited Investor by their financial institution. Accredited investors have more flexibility in being able to access certain products and services as compared to retail clients.
How to qualify as an accredited investor
In order to be eligible to be an accredited investor, you must meet at least one of the following criteria:
Minimum income of S$300,000 (or its equivalent in a foreign currency) in the last 12 months; or
Net personal assets* exceeding S$2 million (or its equivalent in a foreign currency) , of which the net value of the primary place of residence can only contribute up to S$1 million (or its equivalent in a foreign currency); or
Net financial assets exceeding S$1 million (or its equivalent in a foreign currency).
* Your DPT holdings (i.e. digital currency assets) can contribute up to S$200,000 of your net personal assets assessment. As required by the MAS guidelines, a downard valuation of 50% will be applied to their market value for this valuation.
Examples
Your DPT holdings have a market value of S$350,000. We will apply a downward valuation of 50% to the market value, and a final valuation of S$175,000 can be counted towards your net personal assets assessment.
Your DPT holdings have a market value of S$500,000. In this case, your holdings will be marked at a final valuation of S$250,000. However, this exceeds the maximum allowable contribution and only a valuation of S$200,000 can be counted towards your net personal assets assessment.
Apply as an accredited investor
You can apply as an accredited investor by verifying via Singpass or manual documents.
From the notification you receive, select Verify now.
Read the criteria page and confirm your eligibility by selecting Yes, I am an accredited investor.
Select Verify with Singpass.
On the following page, select Retrieve MyInfo with Singpass. This directs to the Singpass App.
Sign in to your Singpass account and complete the authentication process to confirm all information required.
Confirm the information provided from Singpass is correct and select Confirm and continue.
If you qualify as an accredited investor, confirm and agree to the terms stated on the acknowledgement page.
If you don't qualify as an accredited investor, a notification appears stating that.
From the notification you receive, select Verify now.
Read the criteria page and confirm your eligibility by selecting Yes, I am an accredited investor.
Select Verify with other documents and confirm. You’ll receive a confirmation email within 7 days.
Use the SendSafely link provided in the email to send all documents.
Wait at least 5 business days for our team to review your documents. Reviews may take longer during high application volume.
If you qualify as an accredited investor, confirm and agree to the terms stated on the acknowledgement page.
If you don't qualify as an accredited investor, a notification appears stating that.