Binance Singapore has applied for a license under the country’s new payment law

Exchanges • February 17, 2020, 1:15AM EST
UPDATED: February 17, 2020, 1:30AM EST
Akio Kon/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Crypto exchange Binance's Singapore unit has applied for a license under the country’s new Payment Services Act, which came into force on January 28.

“We have already applied. We submitted the application pretty fast,” Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao told Bloomberg in an interview published Sunday. “Binance’s Singapore entity has been in close touch with the local regulators, and they have always been open-minded."

The new act requires crypto businesses operating in Singapore to be registered and licensed. They need to get one of these three licenses - money-changing license, standard payment institution, or major payment institution license.

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It is not clear under which of these three categories Binance has applied for a license. The Block has reached out to the exchange and will update this story if we hear back.

Binance has been operating a fiat-to-crypto exchange in Singapore since last April. The exchange currently supports 8 coins, including bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH) and XRP.

Binance’s Singapore unit is backed by Vertex Venture Holdings, the venture capital arm of Singapore government-owned Temasek Holdings.

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Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block, covering all things crypto. As one of the earliest team members, Yogita has played a pivotal role in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With nearly 3,000 articles under her belt, Yogita holds the records as The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Prior to joining The Block, Yogita worked at crypto publication CoinDesk and The Economic Times, where she wrote on personal finance. To contact her, email: [email protected]. For her latest work, follow her on X @Yogita_Khatri5.