Coinbase Global Inc., a cryptocurrency exchange, got a digital assets license in Singapore, where authorities are increasing their scrutiny following the high-profile collapses of cryptocurrency companies like Three Arrows Capital.
According to the Payment Services Act, Coinbase Singapore has received in-principle clearance from the Monetary Authority of Singapore to offer regulated services in the city-state, the business said on Tuesday. Since Singapore’s licensing scheme was introduced in 2019, about 15 businesses, including competitor Crypto.com, have been granted such permission.
Singapore will be a growing hub for Coinbase
According to Hassan Ahmed, chief executive of Coinbase’s local branch, Singapore will serve as a “beachhead” for the company’s planned development in the Asia-Pacific region, where countries like Indonesia and Vietnam are appealing. In an effort to boost expansion abroad, Coinbase last month launched a restructuring of its operations in Australia.
“We see Singapore as a strategic market for institutional clients as well.” He also pointed to Australia and Japan as “very key markets within the broader APAC sort of region that we’re going to continue to double down on.”
Ahmed said in an interview
As per Ahmed, Coinbase employs over 100 workers in Singapore. He stated that although the company has been choosy in recruiting recently, it is “beginning to get a little bit of hunger back.”
With a legal framework that is seen to be more thorough than that of Hong Kong, a rival financial center, Singapore has been establishing itself as a major hub for cryptocurrencies in Asia. However, the MAS has been cautious in accepting new participants, slowing the rate of license issuance as a result of a number of sector upheavals.
A cryptocurrency hedge firm called Three Arrows, which was once located in Singapore, is being dissolved after making aggressive wagers on digital assets that went horribly wrong as token prices fell.
After eliminating about a fifth of the company’s personnel and posting second-quarter revenue and trading volume that fell short of expectations, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is giving foreign expansion priority. Its shares have dropped 73% year so far, less than the 60% decrease in the MVIS CryptoCompare Digital Assets 100 Index.