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Singapore Temporarily Exempts Crypto Firms, Including Coinbase, From New Licensing Regime
Cryptocurrency firms can continue operating but must apply for a license by summer under new rules
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 8:23 a.m. Published Mar 27, 2020, 3:30 p.m.
A number of cryptocurrency firms have been exempted from holding a payments license in Singapore till this summer.
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An extensive list of companies posted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) includes well-known exchanges and custodians such as Binance, Coinbase, Ripple and BitGo, with all being allowed to continue operating without a payments license until July 28, 2020.
The exemption will end after that date, or if firms registered in Singapore submit a license application under the Payments Services Act 2019, or are approved or rejected for a license by MAS.
Under the act, all financial entities conducting payments are required to hold a license for specific payment services in Singapore, a rule aimed to ensure regulatory certainty and consumer safety. Parliament passed an amendment on 14 January 2019 bringing crypto, or Digital Payment Token services, under the same legislation.
See also: Singapore’s Court of Appeals Rules Against Quoine Exchange in Landmark Crypto Case
The tougher anti-money laundering compliance regime facing firms as a result has already led to one firm shutting up shop. Cryptocurrency payments provider Coinpip said it was suspending operations on March 13 while it considered applying for the new license.
Crypto firms already working in Singapore are required to first register with MAS, then apply for a license to operate. A failure to notify MAS is a breach of the requirements and will mean such firms would lose any exemption, according to the new announcement.
The authority notes that the firms on the list are not licensed, but have notified of their operations.
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- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
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- U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, is calling for a probe into DeFi platforms, especially on their relationship with the business interests of President Donald Trump.
- Warren's pushback comes as the Senate is still negotiating the details of a crypto market structure bill, a process that's now drifted into January.
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