Singapore's financial regulator expects certain crypto service providers not to promote their services to the general public, and it lists advertising, public events, roadshows, third-party websites and influencers among the channels it means. That is the direct answer. It is a description of a public document, not legal advice, and whether the guidelines apply to a given company is a question for that company's lawyer. What a PR team can do is read the text closely, plan around it, and avoid assuming anything the text does not say. With TOKEN2049 Singapore starting on October 7, this is the week many crypto teams will run into it.
What are the guidelines, and who issued them?
The document is the Monetary Authority of Singapore's Guidelines on Provision of Digital Payment Token Services to the Public, reference PS-G02, issued on January 17, 2022. Digital payment tokens, or DPTs, is the regulator's term for what most people call cryptocurrencies.
The guidelines open with MAS's position that trading in DPTs is "highly risky and not suitable for the general public," and that the public "should not be encouraged to engage in the trading of DPTs." The rules on promotion follow from that position. MAS also says it may update the guidelines as the landscape changes, so anyone relying on them should check the MAS page for anything issued since.
Who do the guidelines apply to?
Unless stated otherwise, they apply to DPT service providers licensed under the Payment Services Act, to banks and other financial institutions providing DPT services in Singapore, and to providers operating under the transitional exemption that existed when the Act commenced. They do not describe every crypto company. A protocol team, a media brand or a company with no Singapore-facing service may sit outside them, and a licensed exchange sits squarely inside. Working out which category you are in is the first job for counsel, and it should happen before a communications plan is written, not after.
What do the guidelines actually say about promotion?
Section 2 is the part that matters for PR. Read directly from the document:
- No trivializing risk. Providers should not portray trading in a way that trivializes the high risks involved.
- No promotion in public areas or public-facing media. Providers should not promote their services "in public areas in Singapore or through any other media directed at the general public in Singapore." The text names advertisements and promotional materials in public areas such as public transport, public transport venues, broadcast media, periodical publications (which a footnote says includes newspapers and magazines), third-party websites, social media platforms, public events and roadshows. A second footnote adds that there should not be promotional banners or pop-up advertisements on social media aimed at the general public or a specific consumer segment in Singapore.
- Own channels are treated differently. Providers may promote their services on their own corporate website, mobile applications and official social media accounts, but they must not trivialize the risks in a way that contradicts the risk disclosures required under the Payment Services Act.
- No third-party promoters. Providers should not engage third parties, such as social media influencers or third-party websites, to promote their services to the general public in Singapore. The text says this includes joint promotional campaigns to solicit new customers.
Sections 3 and 4 add two further points: providers should not place physical crypto ATMs in public areas, and should not promote payment token derivatives as a convenient unregulated alternative to trading the tokens themselves, or suggest they are less risky.
Does that mean crypto companies cannot get press coverage in Singapore?
The text does not say that, and it is worth being precise. The guidelines talk about "advertisements or promotional materials" and about engaging third parties "to promote." They do not address editorial coverage that a journalist independently decides to write. Whether a given interview, quote or article would be viewed as promotion by MAS is a legal judgment, and this article does not make it.
What PR practice can add is the difference between the two things it already draws. Coverage a reporter chooses to write, on their own terms, is earned. A placement you pay for, sponsor or arrange as a campaign is something else, and a paid placement that carries a label is not press coverage. If your plan blurs the line, the risk is not only reputational, it may also be regulatory.
How should a crypto team plan around the rules?
Some habits follow from the text without stretching it:
- Ask counsel first. Find out whether the guidelines apply to your entity and your specific service, and get written direction on how to describe it.
- Keep the risk language honest. Because the guidelines single out trivializing risk, announcements should not sound like an invitation to trade. Facts about a product, a partnership or a data set are safer ground than promises of returns.
- Watch paid and semi-paid channels. Sponsored posts, paid influencer content and co-marketing campaigns are the areas the text names most directly. Be sure any agency or partner you use understands that.
- Keep event activity in view. Public events and roadshows are named in the text. Booths, side events and public giveaways during conference week are worth reviewing with counsel before they are announced.
- Use your own channels carefully. Your website, app and official accounts are where the guidelines allow promotion, subject to the risk-disclosure point. Keep those consistent with what you say to reporters.
Before you commit to wording, a crypto press release has its own structure and a regulatory check that belongs in every release process. If you are choosing outside help, what to check before you hire a crypto PR agency includes regulatory awareness for exactly this reason.
What is the difference between a guideline and a law?
These are guidelines, and MAS states them as expectations for providers. That does not make them optional for a regulated business, since the regulator supervises the sector and its expectations shape how firms behave. It does mean the exact legal weight of a given sentence is something a lawyer should explain, and it is another reason not to summarize them from a blog post. Read the original, and treat this piece as a pointer to it.
Where does this fit with a conference like TOKEN2049?
Conference week compresses every promotional decision into a few days: sponsored content, side events, stage appearances, press briefings. That is the moment a compliance question is hardest to answer and easiest to skip. Our TOKEN2049 Singapore PR playbook covers the press-planning side, and this article covers the rulebook that sits under it. Both are easier to follow if the legal check happens in September, not on October 7.
The direct answer, for anyone who read this far
What do Singapore's crypto promotion rules mean for PR? For providers that fall within them, MAS expects no promotion to the general public through advertising, public events, third-party sites or influencers, and it allows promotion on the provider's own channels with honest risk language. It says nothing directly about independent editorial coverage, so do not assume either way. Get legal advice on your entity, plan your announcements around facts, and keep earned coverage separate from anything you pay for.
White Ocean Media plans crypto and Web3 press work with the regulatory question in mind, though we do not give legal advice and always ask clients to confirm with counsel. If you want a second opinion on an announcement before it goes out, request a quotation.
