About 170 businesses have sought a license to offer digital payment token services, which include crypto-related services since Singapore began regulating the crypto sector earlier this year.

However, more than a hundred companies that filed for a license were either denied or had their applications withdrawn, Nikkei Asia reported on Monday.
<h2><strong>Hard-hitting Crypto Regulations in Singapore</strong></h2>
Exemptions were provided to companies that were operating in the country prior to the licensing regime's implementation while their license applications were completed. In July, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, a senior minister, told parliament that 90 companies were functioning under similar exemptions.

A spokesperson for the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s central bank and regulator of the crypto sector, told the news platform:

<em>“Cryptocurrencies could be abused for money laundering, terrorism financing, or proliferation financing due to the speed and cross-border nature of the transactions.” </em>

The spokesperson elaborated:

<em>“Digital payment token service providers in Singapore … have to comply with requirements to mitigate such risks, including the need to carry out proper customer due diligence, conduct regular account reviews, and monitor and report suspicious transactions.”</em>

Only DBS Vickers Securities, a unit of DBS Group Holdings, Southeast Asia's largest bank; digital payments startup FOMO Pay; and Australia's Independent Reserve are currently mentioned as licensed businesses on the MAS website. In November, the MAS stated that Singapore aspires to become a worldwide crypto powerhouse.

DBS’s head of capital markets and the chairperson of the bank’s crypto exchange said in September:

<em>“We are growing very rapidly. Investors are gradually exploring cryptocurrencies and digital assets.”</em>

Binance was forced by the national bank to halt providing cryptocurrency services to residents in September. Binance stated last week that its Singapore platform will be closing down.

The cause for the closing of Binance's Singaporean exchange, according to CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), was an 18 percent investment in Hg Exchange (HGX), a regulated securities exchange in Singapore. The true reason, according to Bloomberg, is that Binance failed to meet the conditions for a license to operate a crypto exchange.

100 Companies Fail to Obtain Crypto Licenses in Singapore

About 170 businesses have sought a license to offer digital payment token services, which include crypto-related services since Singapore began regulating the crypto sector earlier this year.

Prabhjeet Bhatla is a cryptocurrency writer covering startups and a researcher since 2020. She has authored many articles for Entrepreneur India and APAC (digital and print) on cryptocurrency and ever-evolving Blockchain, the technology behind Bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies. She specializes in applied cryptography, privacy-enhanced information storage systems, anonymous cryptocurrencies, elliptic curve crypto-systems, and satellite television piracy.

100 Companies Fail to Obtain Crypto Licenses in Singapore

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