The Financial Authority of Singapore (MAS) has granted crypto trade Bitstamp a license to offer companies to residents of the Southeast Asian nation, the corporate introduced on Thursday.
Bitstamp’s license is a part of the trade’s broader enlargement into the Asia-Pacific (APAC) area, the corporate stated.
In June, MAS ordered all crypto exchanges serving abroad prospects to get licensed or face expulsion, imprisonment, and monetary penalties. The regulator additionally warned that getting a license could be very troublesome. MAS officers wrote:
“MAS has set the bar excessive for licensing and can usually not difficulty a license. The cash laundering dangers are larger in such enterprise fashions and if their substantive regulated exercise is outdoors of Singapore, MAS is unable to successfully supervise such individuals.”
Singapore’s new regulatory coverage sparked concern amongst crypto corporations positioned within the nation, because the deadline to cease working in Singapore and not using a license was Monday, placing the way forward for some crypto corporations unsure.
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Singapore is a world crypto hub, regardless of low native adoption
Singapore is rising as a crypto hub within the APAC area alongside Hong Kong, a particular financial zone that acts as a regulatory sandbox, bridging mainland China to international digital foreign money markets.
Innovation-friendly laws and a give attention to strong shopper protections attracted a torrent of crypto corporations to Singapore in 2024. MAS authorised twice as many crypto enterprise purposes that yr as in 2023.
Regardless of the surge of worldwide crypto and Web3 corporations establishing store within the nation and a excessive diploma of digital asset consciousness, native adoption of crypto stays low.
Roughly 94% of Singaporeans are conscious of at the least one digital asset, in response to the Impartial Reserve Cryptocurrency Index Singapore 2025 examine. On the similar time, solely 29% stated that they at present or beforehand owned crypto.
Unsurprisingly, 68% of the crypto house owners maintain Bitcoin (BTC), the primary cryptocurrency and the biggest by market capitalization.
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