Binance Makes Another Bid For Singapore Licence Amid US Probe

The Binance app on a smartphone. File shot by Dado Ruvic, Reuters.

Binance’s custody unit Ceffu said on Thursday it is planning to apply for a permit to offer payment services in Singapore, as the crypto exchange makes another attempt to function in the crypto-friendly city-state.

“Once the relevant amendments to the Payment Services Act go live and the application for a custody licence opens, Ceffu will make its official application with the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore),” the unit’s Vice President Athena Yu said in a statement to Reuters.

The development comes at time when Binance is facing increasing scrutiny by regulators in the US.

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The unit, launched in 2021, was recently rebranded to Ceffu from Binance Custody.

Late last year US crypto exchange Coinbase, Crypto.com and DBS Vickers – the brokerage run by Singapore’s largest bank DBS – received similar approval from the central bank to offer payment services in the country.

Binance has earlier faced challenges in Singapore. Its affiliate Binance Asia Services withdrew a local licence application in December 2021 without giving a reason beyond “strategic, commercial and developmental” considerations.

Reuters, with additional editing by Vishakha Saxena

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Vishakha Saxena

Vishakha Saxena is the Multimedia and Social Media Editor at Asia Financial. She has been working as a digital journalist since 2013, and is an experienced writer and multimedia producer. As an eager stock market trader and investor, she is keenly interested in economy, emerging markets and the intersections of finance and society. You can tweet to her @saxenavishakha