Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has left its footprint in Singapore by launching the much-anticipated fiat-to-crypto exchange Binance Singapore.
The platform will allow its users to purchase digital currencies with the Singapore dollar. Though, for now, the crypto trading exchange has only listed Bitcoin against SGD, Binance’s chief financial officer Wei Zhou confirmed that the exchange will list other tokens in the future.
“From a fiat on-ramp perspective, it will be a very exciting launch in terms of allowing people in Singapore to access cryptocurrency from their traditional banking channels,” Zhou told Decrypt.
Singapore @binance Conference took about a month to organize, and ran relatively smoothly (of course, with lots of areas to improve). Our team and partners worked tirelessly. Thank you so much!
Hire passionate people! — CZ Binance (@cz_binance) January 24, 2019
An exchange in every country
Binance Singapore is a part of the exchange’s ambition for its global expansion. Earlier the crypto exchange opened similar fiat-based crypto trading platforms in Uganda, Jersey, and Australia.
“To be able to work in those different countries and jurisdictions, you will need local entities to work with local banking partners,” Zhou added. “From that perspective, the traditional banking sectors—Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore—are the core international and regional financial centers. That’s why it’s important for us to have the exchange live in Singapore, because it is a major financial center for Southeast Asia and Asia as a whole.”
According to Binance Singapore’s website, the platform has partnered with the local payment provider Xfers, which is regulated by the local laws.
Binance’s expansion in the city-state is also supported by Vertex Ventures, a subsidiary of Singapore-based government-owned investment company Temasek Holdings, which invested an undisclosed sum in the crypto exchange last year.
Along with the Singapore-based subsidiary, Binance also launched a decentralized exchange platform - Binance DEX - on Monday. The decentralized platform runs on the exchange's own Blockchain called Binance Chain which is fueled by Binance Coin.
