Singapore’s Monetary Authority Places Binance Mothership on Investor Alert List

Binance.com ends up on Singapore’s investor alert list, but this is a separate entity from Binance.sg which is run by a different corporation

article-image

Source: Shutterstock

share
  • Singapore’s monetary authorities have placed the Binance mothership on an investor alert list warning consumers that the entity is not registered in the city state
  • This is an entirely different entity from Binance.sg, run by a Singapore registered company, that has an exemption to operate from the payments

One of Binance’s many named subsidiaries has found itself in the crosshairs of Singapore’s monetary authority ⁠— potentially threatening the exchange’s move to the city

During the Thursday business day in Asia, the Monetary Authority of Singapore has said that Binance may be in breach of local laws surrounding payments, and placed the exchange’s Binance.com entity on a watch list. 

The operator of Binance.com may be in breach of the Payment Services Act for carrying on the business of providing payment services to, and soliciting such business from Singapore residents without an appropriate license,” the authority said in a release. 

But confusingly, the entity targeted isn’t Binance-Singapore. Binance, which insists on being everywhere but calling nowhere home, has dozens of subsidiaries around the world on markets where it operates a localized version. These versions aren’t as complete as the Binance mothership, but try and conform to local laws and regulations so they have access to local payment rails. Recently, as an example, regulators in the UK have gone after Binance’s UK branch and the Thai SEC has filed a criminal complaint against Binance Thailand.  

Binance.sg, is run by Binance Asia Services Pte Ltd, one of the exchange’s many registered companies in Singapore. Binance Asia Services currently has an exemption from Singapore’s Monetary Authority from having a licence under the country’s Payment Services Act. But Binance.sg only has a fraction of the available tokens to trade that the Binance mothership has, with only bitcoin, ether, and BNB listed. 

Earlier in August, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao tweeted that the exchange was pivoting from “reactive compliance to proactive compliance.” 

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

report_image.png

Research

Tokenized private equity platforms like PreStocks and Ventuals could democratize access to the $175B private equity secondary market by expanding participation from roughly 13 million accredited investors to over 100 million retail investors through blockchain-based trading infrastructure. However, both platforms represent high-risk ventures betting on unvalidated market demand, where technological capability has matured but regulatory clarity and sustainable liquidity remain unproven.

article-image

The race to bid for the USDH ticker heats up

article-image

Sponsored

Esports-style DeFi competition powered by BNB Chain and Aster, live from New York on October 7, 2025

by Sponsored /
article-image

Collaboration will assess blockchain-based fund infrastructure and tokenization opportunities under regulatory frameworks

by Blockworks /
article-image

Tempo might ultimately test what people will pay for decentralization

article-image

Robinhood, which has seen a 98% year-over-year crypto revenue increase, will join Coinbase in the index