Digital assets will now be accepted by the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US after Singapore's government approved the move.
Coinbase had received a licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
Its total resources reached $6 billion as of June 2022.
Coinbase's regulatory approval comes as a welcome development, amid pressure in the crypto market.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has granted preliminary approval to Coinbase under the Payment Services Act (MAS).
Hassan Ahmed, regional director for Southeast Asia at Coinbase said, Singapore is a crucial institutional market for Coinbase because of its skill pool and MAS's regulatory leadership.
Furthermore, Singapore has a large number of renowned asset managers and allocators that are interested in and eager to become more involved with digital assets.
The move fits Coinbase's aspirations for Singapore, which is already its Asia-Pacific tech hub.
A license application was submitted to the MAS before July 2020.
Nearly 100 people work for Coinbase in Singapore, with the product, engineering, and design team making up 30% of the local workforce. Globally, the company has more than 4,900 employees.
As a result of launching its Singapore tech hub last year, Hassan said they will recruit and educate Web3 professionals in Singapore. The company is currently registered and authorised in more than 10 countries, including Japan, Australia, Germany, Italy, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
A parent company of Coinbase, Coinbase Global, is the only cryptocurrency participant in Fortune's list of the 500 largest US companies by revenue.
Total resources reached $6 billion as of June 2022
As of the end of the second quarter of this year, Coinbase had total resources of $6 billion (SGD8.6 billion) plus $428 million in cryptocurrencies. Approximately 245,000 ecosystem partners operate in more than 100 countries, while over 14,000 institutions and more than 100 million individual investors use its services. More than 200 applications were received when MAS opened its doors in 2020 to cryptocurrency enterprises.
Coinbase's regulatory approval comes as a welcome development, amid pressure in the crypto market
Crypto.com and Coinhako have already received in-principle authorisations and licences. The cryptocurrency industry has attracted many players to Singapore due to its location as a centre. Nonetheless, Terraform Labs' stablecoin TerraUSD and sister cryptocurrency Luna crashed, sending the digital asset market into a tailspin.
