Kalen, Alexandru v World Exchange Services Pte Ltd

[2026] SGHC 194 High Court (General Division) 23 September 2026 HC/OC 609/2023 ( HC/AD 5/2025,HC/SUM 486/2025,HC/SUM 2046/2025 ) 4 min read
1 cases cited

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Key facts

Court High Court (General Division)
Decided
Judge Lee Seiu Kin
Charges / claim Civil Procedure
Counsel Covenant Chambers LLC, Studio Legale LLC, Anand Kumar s/o Toofani Beldar, Dilys Chuah Qi Wei, Ronald Wong Jian Jie (Huang Jianjie), Tan Jia Jun, James

Source: [2026] SGHC 194, High Court (General Division), decided — eLitigation. Updated .

Catchwords

Practice Areas

Judges (1)

Counsel (6)

Covenant Chambers LLC Firm
Studio Legale LLC Firm
Anand Kumar s/o Toofani Beldar Counsel for the defendant
Dilys Chuah Qi Wei Counsel for the plaintiff
Ronald Wong Jian Jie (Huang Jianjie) Counsel for the plaintiff Tan Jia Jun, James Counsel for the plaintiff

Parties (2)

World Exchange Services Pte Ltd Defendant
Kalen, Alexandru Plaintiff

Case Significance

Kalen, Alexandru v World Exchange Services Pte Ltd [2026] SGHC 194 is a costs decision of the General Division of the High Court, delivered by Lee Seiu Kin SJ on 23 September 2026. It concerned costs of HC/AD 5/2025, the assessment of damages, and of HC/SUM 486/2025 and HC/SUM 2046/2025. Damages had been assessed at US$10,126,158.43 with interest at 5.33% per annum. The parties relied on the Appendix G range of the Supreme Court Practice Directions 2021. Citing novel issues of valuation of cryptocurrencies, the court fixed pre-trial costs at $40,000.00 and post-trial costs at $20,000.00, with $16,000.00 for the one-and-a-half-day trial. The Defendant was directed to pay the Claimants costs of $88,703.57.

[2026] SGHC 194 explained

Kalen, Alexandru v World Exchange Services Pte Ltd ([2026] SGHC 194) is a Singapore judgment decided by the High Court (General Division) on 23 September 2026. It is categorised under Civil Procedure. It is a recent decision; within this corpus no later judgment has cited it yet. This page summarises what the reported decision covers and links the primary sources — the full judgment, the statutes it cites, and the other cases it engages with — so the decision can be read in context. It is reference information, not legal advice, and it does not state the outcome or any holding beyond what the official judgment records.

What is [2026] SGHC 194 about?

Kalen, Alexandru v World Exchange Services Pte Ltd ([2026] SGHC 194) is a High Court (General Division) decision from 2026. Its published catchwords are “Civil Procedure — Costs”, which indicate the subject matter the judgment addresses. The full reasoning and orders are in the judgment itself, linked below.

Summary

The General Division of the High Court decided costs for an assessment of damages (AD 5) and two related summonses, SUM 486 and SUM 2046, in a claim by Kalen, Alexandru against World Exchange Services Pte Ltd. Damages had been assessed at US$10,126,158.43. Given the novel issues of valuation of cryptocurrencies, the court fixed pre-trial costs at $40,000.00, trial costs at $16,000.00 and post-trial costs at $20,000.00, and directed the Defendant to pay the Claimants a net $88,703.57 across the three applications.

What costs were awarded in Kalen, Alexandru v World Exchange Services Pte Ltd [2026] SGHC 194?

The court directed the Defendant to pay the Claimants costs of $88,703.57, the net total across AD 5/2025, SUM 486 and SUM 2046. Costs for AD 5 were $88,490.37 including disbursements of $12,490.37.

How did the court fix costs for the assessment of damages in [2026] SGHC 194?

In view of the complexity of the case, which involved novel issues of valuation of cryptocurrencies, the court fixed pre-trial costs at $40,000.00, trial costs at $16,000.00 and post-trial costs at $20,000.00.

Cases Cited (1)

SLR (1)
[2026] 3 SLR 1094

Related cases

Other Singapore judgments involving the same parties or counsel.

Judgment

Read the full judgment on the official Singapore Courts portal.

Read on eLitigation

Source: eLitigation ([2026] SGHC 194)