Arguably the world’s most-popular crypto-exchange, Binance has found itself in hot water with global watchdogs over a lack of regulatory clarity. It has faced objections on a consistent basis from different authorities around the world.
Consider this – The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has, in the past, raised concerns about Binance’s operations in the city-state. Well, fast forward to mid-December, and the MAS may have won the session-ender against the crypto-platform.
Huge blow for Binance
BREAKING: Binance Singapore withdraws its application for a crypto-exchange license, and says its platform https://t.co/ZnfCcRCuIM will close by Feb. 13 https://t.co/QdfZOEc7xR pic.twitter.com/JPQjIKYlWy
— Bloomberg Crypto (@crypto) December 13, 2021
Binance Singapore has withdrawn its application for a license to operate a cryptocurrency exchange. It will shut down its trading platform in Singapore. The official announcement, first reported by Bloomberg, revealed,
“Ending an effort that started last year to win approval from Singapore’s authorities.”
Binance plans to “wind down” all services that relate to dealing with cryptocurrency tokens by 13 February 2022. The exchange takes no responsibility for the users’ assets after the said deadline.
“With immediate effect, users must start to make plans to withdraw their crypto and fiat from Binance.sg. Accounts of registered users who have not passed KYC will be suspended.”
However, users may continue to buy and sell crypto using their existing assets until 12 January 2022. From 13 January, Binance.sg users will be barred from buying and selling crypto. During this phase, users can only withdraw and move their crypto to third-party platforms or crypto-wallets; and/or withdraw their SGD. All accounts must be closed by the aforementioned date.
A streamlined summary of the aforementioned timelines is as follows,
Source: Binance
Moreover, Binance Singapore was among roughly 170 companies that applied to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for a license to provide crypto-services. The company had been operating under a temporary exemption during the licensing process. But, no more.
According to Richard Teng, Chief Executive Officer of Binance Singapore,
“We always put our users first, so our decision to close Binance.sg was not taken lightly. Our immediate priority is to help our users in Singapore transition their holdings to other wallets or other third-party services.”
Despite the ongoing regulatory scrutiny, however, Binance continues to explore new jurisdictions and developments.
Interestingly, just a week ago, Binance acquired 18 percent of Singapore-regulated private securities exchange, Hg Exchange (HGX). Now the question remains – Will this change anything in the future? Only time will tell.
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