The General Division of the Singapore High Court decided Kalen, Alexandru v World Exchange Services Pte Ltd [2026] SGHC 31 on 9 February 2026, in Originating Claim No 609 of 2023 and Assessment of Damages No 5 of 2025. Lee Seiu Kin SJ heard the assessment on 30 September and 1 to 2 October 2025. Liability for breach of the User Agreement and the Buyback Agreement had been established at summary judgment, so the decision settles quantum alone.
The court applied the breach date rule and its exceptions as stated in iVenture Card Ltd v Big Bus Singapore [2022] 1 SLR 302, and treated that rule as grounded in mitigation following POP Holdings Pte Ltd v Teo Ban Lim [2025] SGCA 51. The valuation date turns on when the claimant knew of the breach and whether substitute performance was possible and reasonable, with Hooper v Oates [2014] Ch 287 tying the date to an available market and The Asia Star [2010] SGCA 12 supplying the duty to take reasonable mitigating steps. The court declined to adopt the New York highest intermediate value rule applied in Diamond Fortress Technologies Inc v EverID Inc, 274 A.3d 287, on the ground that it gives claimants a hindsight windfall.
Exchange operators, custodians and liquidators defending claims over tokens they failed to return now have a Singapore authority holding exposure to a value close to the breach rather than a later peak. Token holders who lose platform access are expected to buy substitutes once they know of the breach. The court accepted claimant screenshots and statements as proof of holdings as at 12 July 2018 because the defendant's expert did not rebut them, which leaves the evidential burden with a defendant disputing quantum.
Values for October and November 2018 were not in evidence, so the court averaged the 12 July 2018 value, the highest value within three months of that date, and the 1 December 2018 value, reaching US$10,126,158.43. Interest was ordered with the rate left to be argued, and costs went to the claimants on the standard scale. The judgment treats the cryptocurrency valuation date point in Fantom Foundation Ltd v Multichain Foundation Ltd [2024] SGHC 173 as obiter.
Licentium advises exchanges, custodians and token holders on recovery of digital assets and on quantification of loss in crypto disputes. Work we undertake includes damages strategy in token claims, evidence packages proving platform holdings, and jurisdictional analysis for cross border crypto recovery.