Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc. received a digital assets license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the firm announced Tuesday.
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Fast facts
- They were granted “in-principle approval” under the Payment Services Act to provide “regulated Digital Payment Token products and services” in Singapore, including “our full suite of retail, institutional and ecosystem products.”
- Over a dozen firms have received such licensing since Singapore launched the regime in 2019.
- The exchange is collaborating with “industry associations to promote dialogue with policymakers, and ensure balanced regulations, and a pragmatic approach to regulatory framework for digital assets,” said Hassan Ahmed, Coinbase’s Southeast Asia head. His comments echo those of the firm’s vice president of international and business development Nasa Murugesan, who said Coinbase would focus “more towards markets that have [regulatory clarity].”
- The city-state is home to roughly 100 Coinbase employees, said Ahmed, adding that they are “starting to get a little bit of appetite back” in regards to employment, the firm having cut almost a fifth of their workforce in June.
- Ahmed said of Southeast Asia that Coinbase sees the region as “a crypto-forward region with a lot of demand for holding and using crypto in markets such as the Philippines and Indonesia.”
See related article: Singapore’s MAS says needs to do better job explaining crypto policy