The long awaited launch of Binance in Singapore finally happened this week, following exchanges being launched in both Uganda and Jersey.
Binance Singapore has partnered with Singapore-based payment provider Xfers. Coinbase used Xfers to launch their own exchange in Singapore. The partnership between Coinbase and Xfers ended when the exchange shut down its operations in Singapore. At the time, Coinbase said that Xfers was
“not suitable in its current form to handle the growth”
Binance, the largest exchange according to traded volume also partnered with Vertex Ventures. The subsidiary of Singapore-based government-owned investment company Temasek Holdings invested an undisclosed sum in the cryptocurrency exchange project in 2018.
The exchange has been testing a ‘beta’ version in Singapore since the end of last year, in communication with MAS, the Singaporean regulator.
Wei Zhou, Binance’s chief financial officer, said:
From a fiat on-ramp perspective, it will be a very exciting launch in terms of allowing people in Singapore to access cryptocurrency from their traditional banking channels
The Binance Singapore platform will allow its users to buy digital currencies using the Singapore dollar. Initially, the crypto trading exchange only lists Bitcoin (BTC). However, other tokens are planned for the near future. A Binance spokesperson said that “more pairs [may be] added as regulations allow.”
Binance in Bid for Global Domination
The much awaited launch of the exchange by Binance Singapore, the third this year, is part of Binance’s bid for global expansion. The launches in Singapore follow the launches in Uganda and Jersey and are part of their stated plan to operate at least two fiat-to crypto exchanges on each of the continents.
At least one further crypto exchange is set to be launched this year, the venue being the crypto and tax friendly Malta. According to some reports, Binance are planning crypto exchange launches in Russia, Argentina, South Korea, Turkey and Lichtenstein.
