Coinbase handed payments licence for digital assets in Singapore

By Darren Parkin

Coinbase’s Singapore division has been granted a Major Payment Institution licence by the state’s central bank.

The MPI licence means the massive US cryptocurrency exchange can now offer digital asset services throughout Singapore.

The move comes almost a year to the day when the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) granted initial approval.

MAS – the financial regulator and central bank of the city state, last month said it would strictly only grant licences to crypto platforms if they possessed robust financial controls, adding that most applicants had been unsuccessful.

The body has also pledged to roll out a series of regulations around crypto next year.