The official Singapore financial regulator, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), has approved two companies to offer cryptocurrency services in the country.
MAS issued licenses on October 1, two Australian crypto exchange independent reserve and DBS banks brokerage DBS Vickers, DBSV. This will allow them to offer digital payment services, which fall under the Payment Services Act.
According to news done by Independent Reserve, the Australian cryptocurrency exchange is the first institution for retail and institutional investors in Singapore. It was founded back in Australia in 2013 and started overseas operations in 2020. It offers both over the counter and digital asset exchange to both individuals and institutions.
From an announcement done by DBS bank, the license will help DBSV to work smoothly with asset managers and companies who are interested in doing cryptocurrency trading through the DBS exchange. The DBS digital exchange was launched officially in December 2020 and supports major cryptocurrencies such as ethereum, Bitcoin, etc. It, however, only targets institutional investors.
MAS has given DBSV an independent reserve approval to provide digital payment services from early August. According to the independent reserve CEO, Adrian Przelozny, Singapore is the most demanding in Asia regarding licensing requirements. This leaves a gap for Australia to learn from Singapore when it comes to crypto industry licensing. In Australia, for instance, there are no custodian requirements for capital cryptocurrency exchanges.
According to the DDEx chair Eng-Kwok Seat Moey, getting a license marks a significant milestone. The company can offer various crypto-related services, such as trading, tokenization, listing, and custody.
With official approval from MAS, DBSV is in a great position to support institutional and corporate investors interested in cryptocurrencies. The approval comes timely as Binance has stopped offering several products on its platform in Singapore in September as MAS warned of a breach of the country’s P.S. Acts. Binance features on the regulator’s investor alert list as being unregulated based on recommendations from MAS.
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