Organizations dealing with cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology have been given a boost after receiving recognition from mainstream institutions. Singapore has been one of the major hubs for this unprecedented growth and the South Asian country does not seem to be stopping anytime soon.
On Monday, Singapore announced that iSTOX, the popular capital markets platform had transitioned into a fully licensed company. This was another feather in the cap for the burgeoning fintech economy in Singapore.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore announced that iSTOX had graduated from the body’s FinTech Regulatory Sandbox, making it a legitimately licensed body. With the license, iSTOX will now be able to onboard more investors as well as increase the size of issuances.
In the Sandbox program, iSTOX had several restrictions which included placing holds on investors as well as a tight watch on the issuance index. Darius Liu, the Chief Operation Officer [COO] of iSTOX stated:
“While capital markets have seen many changes and innovations over the years, the underlying core infrastructure hasn’t really changed since the advent of electronic trading decades ago.”
The company revealed that it has several plans to improve the issuance industry within Singapore. It has also opened registration for accredited and mainstream investors which will allow them to access multiple opportunities. This includes treading areas that are not generally available outside a niche market.
iSTOX has received the backing of several important investors, forcing multiple sectors to sit up and take notice. The investor roster includes Temasek Holdings, Heliconia Capital Management, Japan’s Tokai Tokyo Financial Holdings Inc and Singapore Exchange Ltd.
iSTOX functions on the distributed ledger technology and offers custody support as well as trading of digitized securities. The organization offers a way for rising startups to raise funds via equity-linked products as well as other structures backed by liquid assets.
The Singapore based company had made news last year when it hired UBS Group AG’s former Singapore investment banking chief Oi Yee Choo. She was tasked with driving business growth by building its network of investors and issuers.
Singapore has been efficient in building the fintech economy within its borders, with several proponents hailing the country’s efforts. The Monetary Authority of Singapore had also commenced the Payment Services Act recently. This step was taken to enhance the regulatory framework for payment services in Singapore.