With Bitcoin rising sharply, many have already agreed that this is the start of a bull market. Price movement is usually the best form of marketing and unsurprisingly, the Google search interest for "buy bitcoin" shot up sharply in Singapore.
I am writing this article to introduce a few ways on how people can buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in Singapore. I am also ranking them according to my preference and will explain why. While my preference might change over time, this is accurate as of June 2019.
Note that all of these methods require some form of KYC in order to use their full functionalities.
Using Xfers + Exchange (Best way in my opinion)
Xfers is a fintech startup in Singapore that aims to simplify bank transfer payments. Part of Xfers offerings is a "Digital Goods Wallet" which allows users to purchase cryptocurrencies on supported exchanges.
Xfers uses a Singapore based bank account to accept top-ups to the "Digital Goods Wallet". Hence, there is no telegraphic transfer or SWIFT payment fees if you are transferring from a Singapore bank account as well. It also accepts top-ups in SGD which means there is no loss due to exchange rate.
However, Xfers do not process transfers immediately. Instead, they have official processing times at 11am, 5pm, and 11pm. Though officially they are only processing transfers 3 times a day, I have encountered instances where my top-up reaches my wallet faster and outside the official processing times. So I think the listed timings are just to manage customers' expectations and the actual speed can be faster.
It is also important to note that Xfers is a 2-way service. This means that you can sell your cryptocurrencies on select exchanges and withdraw those fiat funds via Xfers as well.
As of now, there are 2 exchanges that I know of that are using Xfers as a payment method. Here goes:
Binance.SG
If you are in the cryptocurrencies market for sometime, you should be familiar with Binance. However, in order to purchase cryptocurrencies (e.g. Bitcoin) with Xfers, you can only use Binance Singapore.
Buying from Binance Singapore is relatively simple and low-cost. There is a fee of 0.6% (promotion rate as the usual fee is 0.8%) based on your transaction amount and also a standard withdrawal gas fee. Currently, Bitcoin, Ethereum and, of course, Binance Coin are available for purchase on Binance Singapore.
Binance Singapore just started operations in May 2019. Hence they are aggressively getting users and there is a referral bonus of SGD 20, if you are interested :)
CoinHako
CoinHako has been around for quite some time and there is a much longer list of supported cryptocurrencies.
CoinHako charges 1% fees on cryptocurrencies purchases on top of the standard withdrawal gas fees. With a 1% fee as compared to Binance Singapore's 0.6% fee, it may seem like a no-brainer to opt for Binance Singapore. However, that is not always the case as CoinHako provides a wider selection of cryptocurrencies.
For example, if you want to buy LOOM tokens, you can choose to buy it direct from CoinHako or buy Ethereum first from Binance Singapore and convert it at another exchange. The latter approach requires you to have an account with another exchange and it also requires you to transfer your Ethereum to that exchange. All these cost money and time. Thus, you might end up paying more in terms of fees.
TT + Exchange
There are other exchanges that accept deposits via telegraphic transfers (TT). This is a less preferred method as TT costs money and depending on the payment processor, there might be additional charges on top of TT fees.
As such fees are largely fixed, using the TT + exchange method to buy cryptocurrencies only makes sense if you are making large purchases. Let's use an exchange that I know of to calculate how much should your transaction be to make this method worthwhile.
Liquid is one of such exchanges that accepts TT into the exchange wallet and using the funds in the wallet for cryptocurrencies purchase. Liquid used to allow transfers to be made to a Singapore DBS account, it had since changed in April 2019 and now requires a foreign TT to top-up their exchange wallet.
Using OCBC as an example (fee schedule below), a SGD 1000 TT will incur a $25 fee, which is a 2.5%. Since Binance Singapore is charging a 0.6% fee, it thus makes more sense to use it to make a SGD 1000 cryptocurrency purchase. However, the equation changes when you are making a SGD 5000 purchase, the fee will then be only 0.5% of the transaction.
Note that this will vary from bank to bank and you should find out the TT charges for the bank you are using and make the decision.
Using Credit Cards + Exchange (Least preferred way)
Finally, you can also use credit cards on certain exchanges to purchase cryptocurrencies. The regular Binance (not to be confused with Binance Singapore) and Coinbase allows purchases with credit cards but they charge an exorbitant fee. Taking Binance as example, a 3.5% fee or USD 10, whichever is higher, will be slapped on each purchase.
I do not see any reason to purchase cryptocurrencies with credit card in Singapore. I think this option is more suitable for regions that do not have other options to purchase cryptocurrencies and it can be used as the last resort.
Conclusion
There are largely 3 ways for folks in Singapore to get their hands on some cryptocurrencies. Using Xfers seems to be the best and economical way. On some occasions, it will make sense to use a TT. If you are someone who invest a small amount of money into crypto every month then Xfers should be the best choice. Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts!
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