Binance Singapore has withdrawn its application for a license to operate a cryptocurrency exchange, and will shut down its trading platform in the city-state by February 13.
Binance Singapore’s users will be informed through email as to what steps they will need to take as the platform ceases its operations. The company said in an emailed statement that registrations, crypto and currency deposits and trading on Binance Singapore’s platform will be closed with immediate effect.
“We always put our users first, so our decision to close Binance.sg was not taken lightly,” said Richard Teng, Chief Executive Officer of Binance Singapore. “Our immediate priority is to help our users in Singapore transition their holdings to other wallets or other third-party services.”
Binance Singapore was among roughly 170 companies that had applied to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for a license to provide crypto services. The company had been operating under a temporary exemption during the licensing process.
The company said that its operations in the city-state will now become a blockchain innovation hub with initiatives that include incubation programs, blockchain education and investments
Last week, Binance Singapore made an investment in Hg Exchange (HGX), a regional private securities exchange. The deal gives Binance Singapore a post-money stake of 18% in a Singapore-based exchange that was granted a Recognized Market Operator license by MAS earlier this year. The deal will be subject to regulatory requirements.
Binance’s billionaire cofounder and CEO Changpeng Zhao, who goes by CZ, later posted on Twitter that the investment in HGX was a contributing factor in its decision to withdraw the company’s application for a license.
Binance was established in 2017 by Zhao and fellow cofounder He Yi, who together built it into the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, according to CoinGecko’s ranking.
Although the company has no official headquarters, Binance’s main trading platform has still managed to record an average daily trading volume of $2 billion and more than 1.4 million transactions per second, according to its website. Zhao recently told Bloomberg that Binance had already decided on a location for its headquarters and will announce it soon.
