More and more industry frontrunners believe that digital assets are the future of the digital economy. For instance, Singapore’s crypto exchange use is growing among companies of diverse sizes, streamlined by providers like DBS to enable institutional and accredited investors to tap into a fully integrated tokenization, trading, and custody ecosystem for digital assets. It provides an ecosystem for fundraising through offering security tokens and secondary trading of digital assets, including cryptocurrencies.
The world will run on crypto
As the rest of the world gradually eases and adopts cryptocurrencies, the island nation of Singapore is already becoming a hotspot for global crypto companies and executives owing to its warmer regulations and license exemptions.
Binance, currently the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, is one of the top groups to call the country one of its control centers, with CEO Changpeng Zhao having moved to the city-state in recent years.
In any case, the exchange has faced several clampdowns from different governments, mostly over concerns of unregulated activity that they claimed has the potential to be used for money laundering or even terrorist funding. Japan, Thailand, the EU, Canada, and the US are all probing Binance.
Binance found Singapore to be a paradise of opportunity, even when regulations loom over the industry in areas of the globe.
Adapt or be left behind
Singapore is looking to cement the country as a key player for cryptocurrency-related businesses as financial centers worldwide still contend with approaches to handle one of the fastest-growing areas of finance.
Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which regulates banks and financial firms, said, “We think the best approach is not to clamp down or ban this thing.”
MAS is putting strong regulations in place so firms that meet the requirements and address many risks can start operating in peace.
Still, nations differ immensely in how they handle crypto: China continues to crack down on large amounts of activity while Japan only recently allowed dedicated crypto investment funds. In the United States, while there are different options for investing in the burgeoning asset class, regulators are worried about everything from stablecoins to yield-generating products. The stakes are high for Singapore, which has already earned a good reputation as a wealth hub. Singapore needs to raise its safeguards to avoid risks, including illicit flows.
Getting started and eligibility to be a member of the Digital Exchange
For now, Singapore’s crypto exchange is only offered by banks like DBS to financial institutions (“FIs”), accredited corporate investors (such as family offices), and professional market makers as members. Individual investors can only access the exchange via a member, for instance, DBS Private Bank. Members will be admitted separately for trading in cryptocurrencies and trading in Security Tokens. The relevant terms and conditions govern the trading platform and its access and use.
Singapore is far from the only place with crypto ambitions. Diverse locations such as Miami, Malta, El Salvador, and Zug in Switzerland are also moving towards adoption. It’s a fine line to tread since the crypto industry grew up with few regulations. Still, businesses should not ignore this digital currency as its evolution is constant, and implementation is unstoppable.
