- Singapore has granted cryptocurrency licenses to around 15 applicants.
- Coinbase recently declared the expansion of its services in Australia with two new features.
The most prominent centralized cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, announced that it has obtained an “In-Principle Approval (IPA)” which the central bank introduced for cryptocurrency companies last year. With a Major Payments Institution license from the Singapore Monetary Authority (MAS), Coinbase can provide regulated services to individuals and organizations in the country.
Hello Singapore 🇸🇬
— Coinbase (@coinbase) October 11, 2022
Excited to announce we have received an In-Principle Approval as a Major Payment Institution in the Lion City! This is an important step in our mission of being the most trusted crypto platform in Asia Pacific.https://t.co/pc2pkTl7yG
The centralized exchange calls it a “Significant Milestone in Lion City,” and Coinbase is one of 17 cryptocurrency companies to have received in-principle approvals and licenses from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Under a new framework, there were roughly 180 crypto firms that applied to the MAS for a crypto payments license in 2020.
Coinbase Keeps Growing
The crypto exchange quietly stepped up its presence in the market, and last year, Coinbase declared Singapore as a tech hub. Since then they kept hiring product managers and engineers and training them on Web3 technologies. Currently, Coinbase had nearly 100 employees in the Southeast Asian state.
Also, Singapore serves as the center of Coinbase’s institutional APAC operations. Over the past three years, Coinbase Ventures has made investments in over fifteen Web3 startups based in Singapore
Furthermore, Coinbase recently declared the expansion of its services in Australia with two new features. Australians can top up their accounts via direct payments in Australian dollars through Coinbase’s PayID service. Another feature is the company made Retail Advanced Trading available to local clients.
At the time of writing, Coinbase’s trading volume increased by over 150% in the last 24 hours to $1,582,643,291. The widely traded pair is BTC/USD with a 24h volume of $609,193,961, as per Coingecko.
