Singapore Is Not a Web3 Hub, Just a Refuge for Global Gold Rushers
The Singapore government has been giving officials Bitcoin to experiment with since 2010, but its small size and shallow technical talent pool mean it is destined to be a hub, not a center. What is truly valuable is its mechanism of running government like a business and reimbursing startups 70% of exhibition costs.
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This gold rush is not the first, and it won't be the last
Han Yidong has been in Singapore for 16 years and has lived through several gold rushes. The earliest was the Nanyang generation, then industrial companies going overseas, and later the spillover of Chinese internet companies from 2016 to 2018—shared bikes, P2P cash loans, and tool and gaming companies pouring out. He specifically distinguishes two driving forces: one is spillover, where a saturated domestic market forces companies to find a way out; the other is being forced onto the mountain, like cash loans that can no longer operate in China, but the team is still there, so they can only move from Singapore to Indonesia, India, or even Latin America. This Web3 wave started at the end of 2021, and the biggest difference from before is that it's not just startups coming, but also a large number of financially free internet people.
— Han YidongDuring Token2049 week, Singapore had over 100 events
Han Yidong pinpoints the peak of Web3 in Singapore at last September's Token2049. It wasn't just a two-day event; from early September there was a series of Web3 events, and by the week of Token2049, according to incomplete statistics, there were over 100 events, including after-parties hosted by companies and technical talks for developers. He says this scene is unprecedented in Singapore, at least he hasn't seen it in his 16 years here. Three factors combined to fuel this boom: loose policies, network effects, and an influx of capital. But he also gives a time marker—before April-May last year, fundraising was still easy, but afterwards, with the global economic downturn, rising interest rates, and a string of crypto scandals, fundraising is now extremely, extremely difficult.
— Han YidongFTX and Terra proved that centralization is the problem
Han Yidong says the eerie thing about the crypto world last year was that ‘things you only heard rumors about, you actually experienced firsthand’: the Terra wave brought USDT close to zero, then FTX, the world's second-largest exchange, also nearly went to zero. His investor had put $200 million into FTX, and the returns were edited down to zero. But he wasn't surprised; instead, he thinks it objectively proves the core logic of Web3—these problematic exchanges and platforms manage assets and transactions in a relatively centralized way, users don't know what's happening internally, and the data isn't transparent. He says if you want to do Web3, you have to do the core of Web3, not use Web3 as a cover and operate in the traditional Web2 way.
— Han YidongEthereum does 15 transactions per second, Visa does 24,000
Han Yidong divides Web3's development into three stages: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the massive user influx brought by Ethereum scaling. He gives a very concrete comparison—Ethereum can only handle an average of 15 requests per second. If you use it for payments, you can only process 15 transactions per second, which cannot support billions of users globally. But now there are related technologies that can handle 10,000 requests per second, while the world's largest credit card, Visa, has a capacity of only 24,000 per second. He believes this milestone means more users can come in and use this infrastructure, leading to larger-scale user adoption and entry into Web3.
— Han YidongThe Singapore government has never said it wants to be a Web3 hub
Han Yidong says he has never heard the Singapore government come out and say it wants to be a Web3 hub, and a society like Singapore can hardly become a hub. There are three reasons: the economy is too small to incubate things like an independent economy—it's just an experimental ground; Web3 needs more users to scale, and Singapore doesn't have that base; continuous applications and innovations require a large number of technical people, which Singapore also lacks. He thinks Singapore will become a very important hub, but calling it a center is a stretch, and the Singapore government wouldn't be so blindly arrogant. He also doesn't feel the government's attitude has changed; it's just that as its understanding of Web3 deepens, regulatory policies are becoming clearer.
— Han YidongThe government reimburses startups 70% of exhibition costs
Han Yidong says the Singapore government strongly encourages locals to start businesses because the country has no resources, only people. When he first started a music industry business, he received 100,000 Singapore dollars, about 2.5 million RMB, given free by the government. For his second startup, the government invested 300,000 Singapore dollars for 15% equity, but the exit conditions were very simple—any investor could buy that 15% at the valuation at which they invested, so it wasn't really an investment. Now his company is going to Vietnam for an Ethereum developer conference, and 70% of the entire conference cost is covered by the government, 30% by themselves, and they haven't hit the cap yet. The government also covers the cost of hiring locally when you enter a new market. He jokes that in Singapore, if you don't want to start a business, you can ‘do a crash project’ targeting the government to get money from them.
— Han YidongThey did short video four or five years before Toutiao, then shut it down
Han Yidong's second project was called SNIPIT, the first short video in Asia-Pacific, four or five years ahead of Toutiao, with exponential growth in Thailand, possibly faster than Toutiao's early days. But the company was eventually shut down. He attributes the main reason to the lack of a good investment environment in early Southeast Asian internet—without actual revenue, investors would question when there would be revenue and when they would break even, which was unimaginable in China at the time. At that stage, as long as you had user growth and could be in the top three domestically, investors were willing to put in money. A more specific detail: LINE's angel investor wanted to invest, but the Singapore government's investment arm said it didn't want to put in more money because it couldn't see the possibility of breaking even. The investor said, fine, you don't have to invest, but you can dilute your shares, right? The government investor said, we won't dilute, we insist on 30%. The investor found it unbelievable and didn't continue investing.
— Han YidongSingapore officials really have KPIs, and they contact you on WeChat 24/7
Han Yidong says the Singapore government runs the country and government like a business, and the most direct example is that officials really have KPIs. When he was at PingCAP and wanted to put the Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore, the Economic Development Board came to them with preferential policies, followed up very closely, and also had people in China. Their communication was on WeChat, available 24/7 for contact and replies. He says he has been to so many countries, and no country is willing to give him their WeChat or WhatsApp contact. On high official salaries, he remembers the Prime Minister's salary is 2 million Singapore dollars, about 10 million RMB, at the level of a multinational corporate executive. Middle and senior officials are also close to corporate levels, so corporate executives who want to go into government at least don't have to worry too much about salary. High pay also relatively ensures cleanliness, and given the small society, once you make a mistake, you basically have no chance to rise.
— Han YidongIn their own words · checked verbatim
In the crypto world, things you only heard rumors about, you actually experienced firsthand. Including the Terra wave, USDT nearly went to zero, plus later FTX, the world's second-largest exchange, also nearly went to zero. All its investors, including our investor, put $200 million into FTX, and they edited it down to zero.
币圈只是听说过的传闻 真的是亲身经历 包括了之前的这个 Terra这一波 就USDT 就是直接接近归零 再加上后来的FTX 全球第二大交易所 就也算是接近归零 它的所有投资人 包括我们的投资人 投了两亿美金给FTX 他们把它剪辑成零了
Han Yidong13:13
Ethereum, for a simple example, can only handle an average of 15 requests per second. If you use it for payments, you can only process 15 transactions per second. How can you imagine billions of users worldwide using such a platform as basic payment infrastructure? It's impossible.
以太坊给举一个很简单的例子 它一秒钟只能平均处理15个请求 你比如说你用它来做支付的话 一秒钟只能处理15个交易 你怎么能想象全球几十亿用户 去用这样的一个平台 去把它做成一个基础的支付设施 是不可能的
Han Yidong24:20
I don't know when people started saying Singapore wants to be a Web3 hub. I've never heard the Singapore government come out and say we want to be a Web3 hub. And a society like Singapore can hardly become a Web3 hub.
我自己不知道 时候开始大家说 新加坡要做成web3的中心 我也没听过新加坡政府出来说 我们要做web3的中心 而且像新加坡这样的一个社会的话 很难成为一个web3的中心
Han Yidong33:29
When I first started my business, the music industry startup, we got 100,000 Singapore dollars, about 2.5 million RMB, given to us free by the Singapore government.
我当时第一次创业 那个音乐行业的创业 我们拿了十万新币 算成人民币 大概250万人民币 是新加坡政府免费给我们的
Han Yidong38:33
Even LINE, Japan's largest social media platform, their angel investor wanted to invest in us. But that investor said, I don't want to put more money in because I can't see any possibility of this company breaking even. So I won't invest.
甚至日本最大的那个社交媒体 LINE的天使投资人也想投我们 但是那个投资人就说 我不想再往里面放钱了 因为我看不到这个公司 有任何收支平衡的可能性 那我就不投了
Han Yidong45:38
Their communication with us was on WeChat, 24/7, we could contact them anytime and they would give us information and replies promptly. Such an efficient government is rarely seen. I've been to so many countries, and no country would give me their WeChat or WhatsApp contact.
他们跟我们的沟通 是在微信上沟通 而且是24小时 随时联系他们 随时给你相应的信息和回复的 这种高效的这种政府 好像很少见 我去了这么多国家 也没有说哪个国家愿意把微信 或者是WhatsApp的联系方式给我的
Han Yidong1:10:59
Singapore is definitely not the end point. Singapore is just a springboard with Singapore as a hub, or a good hub to help you integrate into the international community and international business environment. Here you can internationalize your product and your team well, but it's absolutely not the end point.
新加坡肯定不是重点了 新加坡只是一个以新加坡为枢纽的一个跳板 或者说帮助你去融入到国际社会的国际营商环境的一个很好的枢纽 在这边可以很好的把你的产品做得国际化 把你的团队做得国际化 但绝对不是重点
Han Yidong1:16:02
Figures
| Number of Web3 events in Singapore during Token2049 | Over 100 | 11:13 |
| Ethereum requests processed per second | 15 | 24:20 |
| Visa requests processed per second | 24,000 | 24:20 |
| Singapore government funding for first startup | 100,000 Singapore dollars, about 2.5 million RMB | 38:33 |
| Singapore government investment amount and equity in second startup | 300,000 Singapore dollars for 15% equity | 39:34 |
| Government reimbursement ratio for Ethereum developer conference costs | 70% | 37:31 |
| Size of ByteDance team in Singapore | At least 3,000-4,000 people | 1:18:04 |
| Amount Singapore gives citizens annually for learning accounts | 500 Singapore dollars, about 2,500 RMB | 1:02:54 |
| Monthly growth rate of Singapore rent | 10% | 56:47 |
Glossary
- Token2049
- A global Web3 industry conference held in Singapore, which reached its peak of popularity last September.
- Terra
- An algorithmic stablecoin project that collapsed in 2022, causing many investors to lose everything.
- FTX
- The world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, which went bankrupt in 2022, causing heavy losses for investors.
- Temasek
- Singapore's sovereign fund, operating like a VC with extremely large investment scale, check sizes of tens of millions or more.
- Sandbox
- A regulatory mechanism that allows emerging industries to experiment within limited scope; Singapore uses it to observe Web3's impact.
How to listen
Entrepreneurs and investors focused on going overseas, Web3 startups, and Singapore's government-business environment, especially those considering registering a company or moving a team to Singapore.
The last 5 rapid-fire Q&As (chili crab, Marina Bay Sands, one-dollar gossip) can be skipped.