Crypto exchange Blockchain.com has received regulatory approval from Singapore’s central bank; the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). This license will give Blockchain.com the ability to offer payment services in Singapore.
Following this development, the total number of crypto companies with permission to operate in Singapore is now 18. About 180 companies have applied for this crypto payments license since 2020.
Blockchain.com said that it sees Singapore as a great location to grow its institutional customers and team. At least 50 percent of Blockchain.com’s business comes from institutions and its retail business has 84 million wallet holders from 200 countries. In March, the crypto exchange was valued at $14 billion. The exchange is backed by investors such as Lightspeed Ventures Partners.
Blockchain.com’s license follows a day after Coinbase received the same license. On Tuesday, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced that it has received a regulatory license in Singapore. This announcement comes as the US company continues to increase efforts to expand abroad. Via a blog post, Coinbase said that “We are excited to announce that we have received our In-Principle Approval (IPA) as a Major Payments Institution license holder from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). This license will allow us to offer regulated Digital Payment Token products and services in the island state. We are also excited to confirm that our CEO and Co-founder, Brian Armstrong will be taking the stage at Singapore Fintech Festival on November 4th, in a fireside chat with Sopnendu Mohanty, the Chief Fintech Officer at MAS.”
The regulatory approvals received by both Blockchain.com and Coinbase come at a challenging time for the crypto market. This year alone, about $2 trillion has been wiped off the crypto market. Leading cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) have continued to see their value decline throughout this year.
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Ibhadojemu Lucky Emmanuel is a graduate of Education and Economics from the University of Benin. He has a passion for tech and business and has been writing professionally for over a period of five years. He's written across various topics and segments and knew tech-business was it when he first stumbled on it. He has a great passion for music and arts, and wants to visit as many countries as he can someday.
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