US-based crypto giant has got its Singapore licence QuoteCoin
New York City: The United States’ most significant cryptocurrency trading platform recently announced that it has been granted permission by the central bank of Singapore to provide payment processing services inside the city-state.
Individuals and institutions are now permitted to use digital payment token services, and the firms are subject to regulation by the central bank in accordance with the Payment Services Act. The in-principle approval was first distributed by the central bank to crypto firms at the beginning of the previous year.
Coinbase issued a statement in which it referred to the event as a “significant milestone.” The company also said that it has been working to expand its presence in Singapore and that it currently has nearly one hundred employees located in the Southeast Asian state. The majority of new hires are product engineers.
Hassan Ahmed, Coinbase’s regional director for Southeast Asia, said that the company saw Singapore as both a critical market and a worldwide center for Web3 innovation. “We see Singapore as a global hub for Web3 innovation.”
Under the new rules that went into effect in 2020, about 180 crypto firms submitted applications to the Monetary Authority of Singapore for a crypto payments license. After going through an extensive process of due diligence that is still going on, Singapore has granted 17 approvals and licenses based on the concept of approval.
In addition to Coinbase, other companies that have been granted licenses include Crypto.com and DBS Vickers, which is the brokerage that is operated by Singapore’s biggest bank, DBS. In the last several years, Singapore has become a significant center in Asia as a result of its friendly attitude, which has helped the financial hub attract digital asset services-related enterprises from China, India, and other parts of the world.
On the other hand, the city state has also been the site of a considerable number of crypto fallouts in recent times. Three Arrows Capital, a cryptocurrency hedge fund established in Singapore, initiated the liquidation process in June as a result of its inability to fulfill liabilities totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.
The collapse of the cryptocurrency markets in Luna and TerraUSD in May caused the hedge firm to suffer financial losses. Terraform Labs, which was established in Singapore, was the company that was responsible for developing both currencies. Do Kwon, the man who founded Terraform Lab, is being sought by the authorities in South Korea at this time.
However, the head of the MAS has been trying to disassociate Singapore from these businesses. In July, he said that companies like as Three Arrows and Terraform Labs were “so-called Singapore-based” corporations that had “nothing to do” with the crypto rules of the city state.
Retail investors in Singapore are going to have a harder time trading cryptocurrencies as a result of new laws that are going to be implemented soon in Singapore.
