Crypto exchange Coinbase secures licence in Singapore

share on

twitter /
facebook /
linkedin /
- email
- telegram
- whatsapp
- wechat
- pinterest
- line
- snapchat
- reddit

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has received its in-principle approval as a major payments institution licence holder from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). This licence will allow the company to offer regulated digital payment token products and services in the country.

"Gaining this in-principle approval from MAS is an important step, as we plan to launch our full suite of retail, institutional and ecosystem products. Singapore plays a critical regulatory and commercial role in APAC and beyond, and serves as our global talent hub; we are excited to continue investing and building for the crypto economy here," Nana Murugesan, Coinbase's VP of international and business development, said. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Coinbase for comment on its marketing plans and potential agency partnerships.

The company has been quietly growing its presence in Singapore for some time now. Last year, it announced Singapore as a tech hub for the company and has since continued to hire and train product managers and engineers on Web3 technologies. The team leading its venture arm, Coinbase Ventures, has invested in over 15 Singapore-based Web3 start-ups in the past three years. It has also established a team in Singapore to drive investment activity in the Asia Pacific region.

A check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE on LinkedIn found that it is currently on the hunt for roles including senior counsel, international (APAC); manager/senior manager, business operations and strategy manager, APAC; and director, associate general counsel - international regulatory.

"We look forward to continuing our work with local Web3 community groups such as ACCESS, Singapore Fintech Association and advisory.sg in favour of a thriving local ecosystem," Murugesan added.

He added that Singapore also serves as the hub for Coinbase’s APAC institutional business." As the top financial centre in Asia, and the third in the world, after New York and London, Singapore is a regional, or in some cases a global hub, for a large number of banks, asset managers, hedge funds, insurance companies, commodity trading firms, corporates, and HNWIs, all of whom have been showing increasing interest to invest directly in digital assets," he explained.

According to him, the latest announcement underlines Coinbase's commitment to Singapore as a regional hub that allows the company to unlock new capabilities for Singapore-based institutional and corporate clients in the future. "We look forward to ongoing collaboration with the government on a pragmatic regulatory framework for digital assets, to empowering local and regional builders as they scale use cases, and to continue supporting efforts to consolidate the island state’s position as a global Web3 hub," Murugesan said.

According to The Straits Times, approximately 180 crypto companies have applied for a crypto payments licence to MAS two years ago. The country has since handed out 17 in-principle approvals and licences, with Crypto.com and DBS Vickers among them.

Singapore has sought to become a hub for digital asset activities. KMPG's report found that the country saw record levels of investment in crypto and blockchain with US$1.48 billion transacted across 82 deals in 2021, as compared to US$109.75 million over 26 deals in 2020. However, Singapore's reputation took a hit when Binance dropped its application for a Singapore licence and ceased local operations this year. Meanwhile, Do Kwon, the ceator of TerraUSD that is owned by Singapore-based Terraform Labs, is currently facing prosecution in South Korea.

At the same time, the MAS said in August that it is considering adding restrictions on retail access to cryptocurrencies. MD Ravi Menon explained previously that consumers seem to be "irrationally oblivious about the risks of cryptocurrency trading" and that consumer-related risks have also gained the attention of regulators globally. "MAS regards cryptocurrencies as unsuitable for use as money and as highly hazardous for retail investors," he said. MAS also released new guidelines earlier this year, stating that cryptocurrency firms can only market or advertise on their own corporate websites, mobile applications or official social media accounts.

share on