Singapore's International Commercial Court freezes around S$75 million in crypto assets

According to the news, the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) has ordered the freezing of approximately S$75 million in Bitcoin and USD Coin, involving a transfer dispute between a major global cryptocurrency trading platform operator (plaintiff and related company) and a long-term customer. In a judgment handed down by Singapore High Court Judge Aidan Xu and SICC international judges Anthony Meagher and David Goddard in March 2026, the court granted the plaintiff an interim injunction prohibiting the defendant from disposing of the 816,773 USDC and 780 BTC and corresponding proceeds transferred from the platform's two dedicated wallets, and required the defendant to disclose the whereabouts of the assets, but did not allow the plaintiff to use this information to apply for similar injunctions in other jurisdictions.

The defendant had 2,500 BTC and 2,500 BCH in a dedicated wallet. The plaintiff alleges that due to technical reasons, the internal ledger did not record the defendant's transfer operation in March 2020, and the wallet appeared empty. Based on this misperception, the plaintiff transferred 2,500 BTC and 2,500 BCH to the defendant's other wallets in July 2024. The defendant then exchanged 20 BTC for approximately 816,773 USDC and transferred 780 BTC to a non-plaintiff escrow wallet between July and November 2024. After discovering a ledger error in January 2025, the plaintiff froze the defendant's wallet and recovered the remaining 1,700 BTC and 2,500 BCH.