Singapore Builds Global Crypto Hub, Says Head of Binance Singapore

Recent steps by Singaporean authorities prove their plan to make this island city-state “a global hub for both cryptocurrency trading and blockchain innovation,” David Kao, Head of Binance Singapore, told Cryptonews.com, as the third trading platform of major crypto exchange Binance publicly launched on Tuesday.

“We believe the recent initiative by the IRAS [the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore] to exempt digital payment tokens (DPTs) from GST [goods and services tax] is a move in the right direction. Along with the new licensing regime in the Payments Services Bill (PSB), these initiatives demonstrate the government’s dedication to making Singapore a global hub for both cryptocurrency trading and blockchain innovation,” Kao said.

As reported on Monday, in a recently published e-Tax draft guide, the IRAS proposed the exemption of certain cryptocurrency transactions from GST and is now asking for feedback from businesses dealing in crypto. Also, the Ministry of Finance is conducting a Public Consultation on the legislative amendments for cryptocurrencies in July.

Meanwhile, after the soft launch in April, Binance Singapore announced the public launch of this fiat-to-crypto platform yesterday. Their users can buy bitcoin, ethereum and binance coin with Singapore dollars (SGD).

“In the future, there will be other cryptocurrencies added to the platform as the team focuses on growing market share and providing a differentiated product while also ensuring continued security and compliance,” according to the company. Since April, the platform has seen user growth of about 20% per week, Binance Singapore said without providing any further numbers.

Also, the company said that Binance has additional, unspecified plans “to grow the Singapore blockchain ecosystem” with investment partners Vertex Ventures China as well as Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India. Vertex Ventures is a global network of operator-investors who manage portfolios in the U.S., China, Israel, India and Southeast Asia.

Binance Singapore is one of the three operating compliant fiat-to-cryptocurrency platforms in the Binance ecosystem. The other two are Binance Uganda and Binance Jersey. The major exchange also aims to launch its American branch in the coming months.