SINGAPORE — In February 2026, Singapore Gulf Bank introduced a stablecoin layer to its real-time settlement platform, SGB Net, enabling clients to mint, convert, hold, and trade stablecoins like USDT and USDC.

The Bahrain-based digital bank was established in 2024 through a partnership between the Whampoa Group and Mumtalakat, Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund. By 2025, it had recorded over $4 billion in deposits and $12 billion in transaction value. Singapore Gulf Bank is fully licensed in Bahrain but is not licensed in Singapore and does not market its services there.

Amy Lee, co-founder of Singapore Gulf Bank and chair of its global advisory board, said the bank selected Bahrain as its base due to the country’s progressive yet mature regulatory approach to digital assets. “We wanted to look for a jurisdiction that is progressive, yet mature,” Lee explained. “The crypto industry is moving towards greater regulation and compliance.” Bahrain regulates digital assets through multiple agencies, including the Central Bank of Bahrain, the Financial Intelligence Directorate, and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

Lee, who retired in 2020 after a four-decade career in law and finance, completed an eight-hour blockchain course in 2022 after Singapore lifted its pandemic-related movement restrictions. She noted that Bahrain’s early shift away from oil dependency created a finance-forward environment that aligned with the bank’s goals. “Bahrain is very small: small population, small island. They were the first country in the Arabian Gulf to discover oil, so they ran low on resources and recalibrated their economy, with finance recently overtaking natural resources.”

Shawn Chan, CEO of Singapore Gulf Bank, said the stablecoin layer addresses growing demand from institutional and individual users. “Our ambition is to become the one bank for all of finance. Stablecoins have become the working capital of the digital asset economy, yet managing them remains unnecessarily complex.” The bank has formed partnerships with JPMorgan, Standard Chartered, Binance, and Solana to support its operations.

Lee emphasized the strategic importance of the Asia-Middle East corridor. “Under this geopolitical climate, the Asia-Middle East corridor is growing in significance and importance. Trade and weapon flows are increasing between the two regions, especially with the U.S.-China bifurcation.” Trade between Asia and the Middle East reached $516 billion in 2024, according to a November 2025 analysis from Asia House.