Crypto exchange Coinbase has announced in a press release that it has received preliminary regulatory approval from Singapore’s monetary authority (MAS) to offer crypto services in Singapore. Following the in-principle approval, Coinbase can now offer “regulated digital payment token products and services in Singapore.”
Coinbase is now one of the few crypto-exchanges that has been approved by Singapore after it passed the long and tedious licensing process imposed by the MAS..
In an interview with Financial Times, the top fintech officer at MAS, Sopnendu Mohanty, claimed that the regulatory body had enacted the “painfully lengthy and rigid licensing process for institutions to prohibit bad behaviour rampant in the crypto sector.”
Coinbase expands to Singapore
Coinbase quietly has been growing its presence in Singapore. It has established a technical center in the area and is increasing its efforts to hire personnel for Web3 in the city.
Coinbase Venture has invested in over fifteen startups on the Web3 in Singapore as part of its push to increase crypto adoption in Singapore.
Besides announcing the regulatory approval, Coinbase’s press statement also added that the company’s CEO and co-founder, Brian Armstrong would be attending a stage event in Singapore alongside MAS’s chief fintech officer.
The statement is:
“We are also excited to confirm that our CEO and co-founder, Brian Armstrong, will be taking the stage at the Singapore Fintech Festival on November 4th, in a fireside chat with Sopnendu Mohanty, the Chief Fintech Officer at MAS.”
Singapore has been a major financial hub in recent years, with many fintech institutions, asset mangers, hedge funds and insurance firms. This growing pool of fintech institutions has also expressed a desire to explore the budding crypto industry including investing some stake in some of the sector’s digital assets.
Prior to Coinbase’s in-principle approval, the MAS had granted in-principle approval to Crypto.com.
