VIRGILIO TARRAGO DA SILVEIRA & Anor v HASHSTACS PTE. LTD. & Anor

Case Significance

da Silveira, Virgilio Tarrago and another v Hashstacs Pte Ltd and another [2024] SGHC(I) 32 is a judgment of the Singapore International Commercial Court delivered by Simon Thorley IJ on 16 December 2024, in Originating Application No 7 of 2023. Between August and December 2019, the first claimant, Mr Virgilio Tarrago Da Silveira, purchased on two cryptocurrency exchanges 8,063,470.53 "STACS Tokens", a form of cryptocurrency then worth in total around US$76,000, later transferring them in September 2020 to the second claimant, Munchetty Investments Ltd, a company he owned and controlled.

The claimants contended that Mr Silveira was induced to buy the tokens by representations for which the first defendant, Hashstacs Pte Ltd, was responsible, and that those representations were false. Hashstacs was associated with the second defendant, Mr Soh Kai Jun. The claimants brought claims against Hashstacs for fraudulent misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation and negligent misstatement, and against both Hashstacs and Mr Soh for unjust enrichment and conspiracy, as reflected in the catchwords on negligence, conspiracy, unjust enrichment and fraud and deceit. The claimants were represented by Withers KhattarWong LLP and the defendants by Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP (including Vikram Nair). The judgment references the Misrepresentation Act, cites 13 authorities (12 Singapore, 1 foreign) and has been cited once.