Blockchain.com Wins Singapore License
The news means two exchanges in two days – Coinbase the other one – have received in-principle approval to operate in that country.
Oct 12, 2022 at 12:59 p.m. UTC
Amitoj Singh is CoinDesk's regulatory reporter covering India. He holds BTC and ETH below CoinDesk's disclosure threshold of $1,000.
London-based crypto exchange Blockchain.com said it has been granted in-principle approval for a Digital Payment Token license by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Reuters was first to report the news.
- The report comes one day after another crypto exchange, Coinbase, announced it was granted a similar approval for a Digital Payment Token (DPT) in Singapore.
- Backed by investors such as Lightspeed Venture Partners, Blockchain.com will become the 18th crypto firm to operate in Singapore out of roughly 180 that have applied for a payments license since 2020, according to the Reuters report.
- Singapore is an attractive spot to grow its institutional business and team, said Blockchain.com in a Medium post, noting half of the company's business comes from institutions.
- Other recent regulatory wins for Blockchain.com include a provisional approval to operate in Dubai. The company, of course, hasn't been immune to crypto winter, having been forced to slash 25% of its workforce in July after losing $270 million from lending to failed crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.
- MAS did not immediately return a request for comment.
UPDATE (Oct. 12, 13:30 UTC): Adds confirmation and response from Blockchain.com in story and headline.
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Amitoj Singh is CoinDesk's regulatory reporter covering India. He holds BTC and ETH below CoinDesk's disclosure threshold of $1,000.
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Amitoj Singh is CoinDesk's regulatory reporter covering India. He holds BTC and ETH below CoinDesk's disclosure threshold of $1,000.
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