DRH v DRI
Catchwords
Practice Areas
Counsel (11)
Parties (2)
Case Significance
DRH v DRI [2026] SGCA 26, decided by the Court of Appeal on 13 May 2026 with Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon delivering the judgment (sitting with Steven Chong JCA and Ang Cheng Hock JCA), resolved three interlocutory applications filed in connection with CA/CA 5/2026, an appeal against a High Court decision of 2 February 2026 in HC/OA 1271/2025 and HC/SUM 3512/2025. The parties are engaged in an ongoing arbitration arising from a token merger agreement under which DRI, DRH, and a third party agreed to merge their respective cryptocurrency tokens. Emergency arbitral relief applications were filed by both sides from August 2025 onwards. The three summonses before the Court of Appeal concerned DRI's application to strike out DRH's notice of appeal, questions of whether permission to appeal was required, and applications for sealing orders. DRH was represented by Colin Liew, Pan Xingzheng Edric, Sim Zhi Quan Sean, and V Santhosh from Dentons Rodyk & Davidson LLP and Providence Law Asia LLC; DRI by Eva Teh Jing Hui, Joan Peiyun Lim-Casanova, Tan Jun Hua Kenneth, and Too Tat Rui from K&L Gates Straits Law LLC.
Summary
DRH and DRI were parties to an ongoing arbitration over a token merger agreement involving cryptocurrency tokens, with DRH appealing against a High Court order refusing to seal court files and requiring proceedings to be heard in open court. The Court of Appeal dismissed DRI's application to strike out DRH's notice of appeal (SUM 5), holding that the confidentiality order was a final order not requiring permission to appeal, and separately granted DRH's application to seal the Court of Appeal file pending determination of the appeal (SUM 7), ordering costs of $6,500 against DRI.
What were the three applications decided by the Court of Appeal in DRH v DRI [2026] SGCA 26?
Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon resolved three summonses: DRI's application to strike out DRH's notice of appeal in CA/CA 5/2026, the question of whether permission to appeal was required, and applications for sealing orders. The underlying dispute involved a token merger agreement for cryptocurrency tokens and ongoing arbitration proceedings begun in August 2025.
How did the cryptocurrency token merger dispute between DRH and DRI reach Singapore's Court of Appeal?
DRH and DRI entered a token merger agreement to combine their respective cryptocurrency tokens. From August 2025 each party filed emergency arbitral relief applications. DRH then appealed the High Court's 2 February 2026 decision in OA 1271/2025, and the Court of Appeal in [2026] SGCA 26 on 13 May 2026 dealt with preliminary applications including a strike-out attempt and sealing order requests.
Statutes Cited
Cases Cited (6)
Judgment
Read the full judgment on the official Singapore Courts portal.
Read on eLitigationSource: eLitigation ([2026] SGCA 26)