When Shawn Chan speaks about digital-asset banking, he speaks with the precision of a lawyer who has spent the past decade straddling two worlds: traditional finance and blockchain.
Today, as CEO of Singapore Gulf Bank (SGB), Chan sits at the centre of one of the fastest-growing financial corridors in the world—linking Asia with the Gulf. In an interview with CryptoNews, Chan shared his journey from corporate law into digital banking, the bank’s regulatory strategy, and the extraordinary acceleration he is seeing in stablecoin-based settlements.
From Corporate Lawyer to Digital-Asset Bank CEO
Chan’s entry into the world of crypto began much earlier than SGB. “I am a lawyer by profession. Most of my legal career has been on the corporate side of things—corporate finance, financial regulations, compliance,” he said.
His first encounter with Bitcoin occurred in London in 2015, when his wife, then studying FinTech innovation, introduced him to the concept. “She told me, have you heard of this thing called Bitcoin? Let’s go meet this Bitcoin evangelist.” Outside the café was a Bitcoin ATM. “That’s when I bought my first Bitcoin… I have no idea where it is now,” he laughed.
Back in Singapore, he began advising blockchain clients at the height of the ICO wave in 2016–2017, which gradually pulled him deeper into the industry. His legal expertise and growing exposure to crypto founders eventually intersected with Whampoa Group, a private investment office linked to prominent Singaporean families.
Chan initially worked with them as external counsel on a digital-bank licence application in Singapore.
That bid was unsuccessful, but the experience—and Whampoa’s appetite—laid the foundation for a bigger ambition.
Why Bahrain—and Not Singapore or Dubai
SGB’s eventual launch in Bahrain was not accidental. Chan explained that the move followed conversations with the Bahrain Economic Development Board and a shared vision around digital finance.
He emphasized the strength of Bahrain’s regulatory structure: “One great thing about Bahrain—similar to Singapore—is that they have one super regulator.” The Central Bank of Bahrain oversees banks, capital markets, and crypto-asset service providers, creating consistency across financial verticals.
This single-regulator model matters, Chan said, because digital banks increasingly operate across multiple activities. In jurisdictions where different regulators oversee different segments, “there might be gaps and dislocations.” Bahrain’s integrated approach offered clarity—and speed.