Singapore grants its first-ever crypto exchange license as the industry remains wary of China

• Singapore has taken the first step in formalizing crypto exchanges, as the crypto-curious city-state benefits from the exodus from China, according to a Financial Times report.
• Australian crypto exchange Independent Reserve is the first to receive the formal go-ahead, with over a hundred applications remaining on the MAS's docket.
• Singapore has seen a wave of interest from the industry as China's crypto crackdown has left many wary of putting down roots in Hong Kong, one Singapore-based exchange operator told the FT.

Singapore has taken the first step in formalizing crypto exchanges, as the crypto-curious city-state benefits from the exodus from China, according to a Financial Times report.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore has granted Australian crypto exchange Independent Reserve an "in principle" approval. Other crypto exchanges like Binance had already been given temporary exemptions to provide services, but Independent Reserve is the first to receive the formal go-ahead, with over a hundred applications remaining on the MAS's docket.

"Now everyone is wondering who will get approval next," one person at a crypto exchange told the FT.

Singapore has seen a wave of interest from the industry as China's crypto crackdown has left many wary of putting down roots in Hong Kong, one Singapore-based exchange operator told the FT.

"A lot of our customers were worried Chinese officials could come across and take their assets sitting in offline vaults," he said.

In the wake of this "China overhang," the city-state has appeared hospitable to crypto investment.

"All eyes are on Singapore and their regulatory regime," Raks Sondhi, Independent Reserve's Singapore-based managing director, told the FT.

The somewhat slow pace of regulatory approval was due to the MAS's commitment to getting consumer protections and money-laundering controls right, he added. For example, Singapore is requiring crypto firms to share the personal information of anyone who makes a transaction over a certain value, a provision known as the "travel rule."