- Binance.sg will shut down on Feb. 13, as Binance Asia will refocus activities in the city-state on its recent investment in regulated exchange HGX
- Binance’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao, says the Binance Asia application for payment services licensing in Singapore was made “somewhat redundant”
The world’s largest digital asset exchange by volume, Binance, has been making moves to increase regulatory compliance for much of the past year. In June, Binance added a Singaporean subsidiary, Binance Pte, as it awaited licensing review from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Blockworks previously reported. The company now is shifting its focus to a MAS-regulated exchange in which Binance took an 18% stake last week.
According to an announcement posted to Binance.sg, the Singapore brand is slated to wind down early next year:
“Binance Asia Services Pte Ltd (BAS) intends to withdraw its licensing efforts in Singapore and wind down its digital payment token (“DPT”) services in Singapore by 13 February 2022. The decision has not been made lightly, and we apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.”
The announcement further states that Binance.sg has halted user registrations, KYC processes, and both crypto and fiat deposits. Trading will continue only through Jan. 12, 2022, after which users will have one month to withdraw their assets before all accounts will be closed.
Binance’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao, took to Twitter Monday morning to clarify that the license application withdrawal was due Binance’s investment in Singaporean exchange, HGX.
“This investment made our own application somewhat redundant. We will continue to work through our partners to grow the crypto industry in Singapore,” he wrote.
Richard Teng, who was appointed CEO of BAS in June, was previously the chairman at HGX and spent 13 years at the Monetary Authority of Singapore before that.
“In Singapore, we continue to work closely with key government agencies to support the growth of the blockchain ecosystem and development of requisite local talent needed,” Mr Teng told The Straits Times.
A Binance Asia spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
Binance Coin (BNB) is trading about 3.4% lower since the announcement.
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