Coinbase Gets License To Operate In SG, Good Days Ahead For Crypto?

Coinbase is now in a good position to help cryptocurrencies have a little breathing room in Singapore where the government is maintaining a hard stance on the asset class.

Following events that put the nation’s image in question as a safe hub for the highly volatile digital currencies, the Monetary Authority of Singapore made the decision to distance itself from bitcoin and other related crypto assets.

Back in August this year, Ravi Menon, a prominent official of the country’s financial regulator, said they will implement stronger measures in restricting retail access to cryptocurrencies.

At the same time, the office is bent on doing everything it could to reduce harm to investors that place a lot of money in the crypto market.

Coinbase Gets Warm Welcome In Singapore

Despite its apparent move to veer away from crypto assets, the MAS did not completely close its doors for the tokenized digital currencies.

That is a development that Coinbase hopes to build up on as it scores a crucial win for the fast growing asset class in Singapore.

This, after the largest cryptocurrency exchange platform in the U.S. gained an “in-principle approval” from the regulating body to offer crypto payment services, CNBC and other news outlets reported Tuesday.

With this, individuals and institutions can now utilize digital payment token services provided that these are regulated under the Payment Services Act.

Image: The Crypto Times

Hassan Amed, the regional director for Southeast Asia of Coinbase, said they view the Asian territory as a “strategic market and a global hub for Web3 innovation.”

Because of this, they have been making their presence in the country felt little by little, hiring nearly 100 employees, most of which are product engineers.

Singapore has already given out 17 in-principle approval. The number, however, is low considering there are 180 crypto companies that applied for license.

Crypto.com and DBS Vickers are among those firms, along with Coinbase, to be granted the license to conduct their business inside the city-state.

What This Means For The Crypto Space

The crypto industry is struggling to command a better level of mass crypto adoption as global numbers remain low.

In fact, according to data from crypto payment firm Triple A, there are only 320 million crypto users globally. That number represents around 4.2% of the world’s population.

As Coinbase makes a foray into Singapore, the crypto community is hoping it can gain the trust of the nation’s government and somehow convince officials to loosen its tight grip on the asset class even for just a bit.

Crypto total market cap at $885 billion on the daily chart |  Featured image from The Daily Encrypt, Source: TradingView.com