US Treasury Secretary praises Singapore's digital asset adoption at APEC

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent just gave Singapore major props for their stablecoin and digital asset leadership during a meeting with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Friday. This went down at the APEC 2025 summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, where global heavyweights are discussing everything from economic growth to energy security and tech innovation.

Bessent also dropped this gem during the Economic Leaders' Informal Dialogue: through their work with APEC economies, the US is "seeing record levels of capital being invested into advanced manufacturing and technology sectors." Translation: the money is flowing into tech like never before.

APEC - that's the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum founded in 1989 - brings together 21 member economies to push sustainable growth across the region. Bessent's been touring Asia with President Donald Trump, hitting up Malaysia, Japan, and now South Korea.

Here's why Singapore is absolutely crushing it: with just 5.9 million people, this city-state has become a global powerhouse for digital asset innovation. A December 2024 report by ApeX Protocol revealed Singapore granted TWICE as many crypto licenses in 2024 compared to the previous year. They're leading in Web3 employment, registered crypto exchanges, and blockchain patent filings worldwide.

But don't think it's the wild west out there - Singapore's keeping things tight. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) dropped a directive on May 30 telling crypto companies offering services abroad to either get licensed or bounce from the country.

The stats don't lie: another September report by ApeX Protocol found Singapore takes the crown as the world's most "crypto-obsessed" nation. Nearly a quarter of the population holds digital assets, and they top global rankings for crypto-related searches. Plus, Singapore just hosted Token2049 in October - one of the most influential crypto conferences on the planet.