The troubled cryptocurrency platform has announced that it will stop trading in Singapore dollars in order to get on the right side of the country’s regulator.
Binance’s problems with regulators are far from over, with Singapore the latest country to sound the alarm on the platform’s services. Binance suffered another blow earlier this month, this time from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The financial watchdog has placed the cryptocurrency company on the “alert list for investors”.
The MAS argued that Binance may have violated payment regulations in the country, which led to an announcement on Sunday by the crypto exchange that it would halt some of its offerings in the Asian country. The exchange was warned to close trading in Singapore and stop making trades with the Singaporean clients it had.
“As Binance is constantly evaluating its product and service offerings to remain compliant with local regulations, we will discontinue the following products and offerings in Singapore on Friday 2021-09-10 04: 00 AM UTC (12: 00 PM UTC+8) “, can be read in the post.
Binance said its peer-to-peer trading would also end, with the exchange planning to remove its SDG pairs by September 10. The company advised its users to clear the trades associated with the peer-to-peer they held and other related trading announcements before September 9. In addition, Binance plans to detach its mobile app from the Apple Store and Google PlayStore in Singapore.
Once again, Binance reaffirmed its commitment to working collaboratively with regulators to create and maintain an environment conducive to trading and investing. It was only last week that South Africa’s regulator, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), warned that the exchange was not legally allowed to conduct operations in the country, asking the public to exercise caution and vigilance.
South Africa and Singapore are just adding to the growing list of countries in conflict with Binance over illegal operations in their respective fields. Binance’s numbers remain firmly high, but from the perspective of investors, uncertainty is setting in.
Binance US, despite being a separate entity from Binance, last week saw investors backtracking on their intentions to finance a $ 100 million round, according to a report in the New York Times. The report suggests that investors pulled back citing concerns about the lack of clarity on the separation between Binance and Binance US, given that Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao held a 90% stake in Binance US. Binance US CEO Brian Brooks, resigned shortly after, citing differences over the company’s strategic orientations, his stint at the helm lasted only about three months.
