Coinbase Breaks Ground in Asia: Gains License in Singapore

Coinbase has secured a comprehensive payments license from Singapore’s central bank

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has secured a comprehensive payments license from Singapore’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). With this Major Payment Institution (MPI) license, Coinbase gains the green light to provide digital payment token services to both individuals and institutions within Singapore. The city-state has emerged as a prominent crypto hub in Asia over the recent years, attracting digital asset companies from various countries, including China and India.

Coinbase, the world’s largest publicly traded cryptocurrency exchange, initially received approval for this license in October the previous year. Singapore represents a crucial market for Coinbase, as 32% of Singaporeans are reported to own or have owned cryptocurrencies, according to survey data cited by the company.

However, it’s worth noting that the crypto industry faced challenges in 2022, with several collapses occurring at crypto firms, including the high-profile case of hedge fund Three Arrows Capital. These incidents tempered some of the initial enthusiasm for the crypto sector. Additionally, Singapore’s state investment firm, Temasek, reduced the pay of the team responsible for recommending a $275 million investment in the now-bankrupt FTX.

The MAS, acting as Singapore’s central bank and financial regulator, highlighted on its website the stringent criteria for granting licenses to cryptocurrency firms. The authority emphasized the importance of robust anti-money laundering controls, leading to many applicants not meeting the required standards. To date, only fourteen companies, including the Singaporean branches of British fintech firm Revolut and London-based crypto company Blockchain.com, have successfully obtained a crypto payments license from the MAS.

It’s worth noting that approximately 180 companies applied for the crypto payments license in 2020 under a newly established regulatory framework. In August 2022, the MAS announced plans to introduce regulations aimed at making it more challenging for retail investors to engage in cryptocurrency trading, especially when such investors may underestimate the associated risks. Ravi Menon, the managing director of the MAS, emphasized the importance of digital asset innovation while cautioning against cryptocurrency speculation in a seminar titled “Yes to digital asset innovation, No to cryptocurrency speculation.”