Cryptocurrency exchange platform, Coinbase, has announced that it has been awarded a Major Payment Institution (MPI) licence to operate in Singapore by the island country’s central bank.
The licence which was granted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), will permit Coinbase to offer digital payment token services to individuals and institutions in Singapore, which is fast emerging as a rising crypto hub in Asia.
Singapore has attracted digital asset companies from countries including China and India. Coinbase was initially granted approval to offer payment services in Singapore in October 2022.
A member of the world’s largest listed crypto exchange, Coinbase considered Singapore a “vital market” for the company, citing survey data which showed that 32% of Singaporeans own crypto or have done so in the past.
Singapore’s central bank and financial regulator, said on its website in September that it only grants licences to cryptocurrency firm that have robust anti-money laundering controls, adding that “most applicants have not been successful”.
Fourteen companies, including the Singapore arms of British fintech, Revolut, and London-based crypto firm, Blockchain.com, have obtained a crypto payments licence, the MAS said.
In August 2022, the MAS said that it was planning regulations that will make it more difficult for retail investors to trade cryptocurrencies at a time when they seem to be increasingly oblivious about the risks involved.
