(June 18): The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) added Bybit Fintech Ltd to its investor alert list on Wednesday, as the city-state steps up scrutiny of unlicensed cryptocurrency exchanges.
Bybit — a global cryptocurrency exchange — has never been licensed to operate in the city. The MAS said the list includes entities that may have been incorrectly perceived as being licensed or authorised by the central bank. Inclusion on the list doesn’t imply wrongdoing, but gives added emphasis that these firms cannot legally provide financial services to Singaporeans.
“MAS assesses public feedback as well as documentary evidence on an entity before placing it on the IAL,” a spokesperson for the regulator said in an emailed statement.
Bybit acknowledged its inclusion on the list in a post on X, stating that it “is engaging MAS to better understand the basis for this listing”. The company doesn’t serve users in Singapore, it added. A Bybit spokesperson shared the same comment in an email.
The move comes as Singapore tightens oversight of the crypto industry following a series of regulatory measures aimed at curbing risks posed by unregulated offshore exchanges. Last year, the MAS expanded its licensing requirements to include locally based digital-asset firms serving overseas customers. Bybit and Bitget were among the impacted exchanges, and both have made plans to shift local operations out of the country, Bloomberg News has reported.
Earlier this year, the MAS added KuCoin to the investor alert list. Binance has been on the list since 2021.
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Singapore has served as a popular regional base of operations for these firms, having emerged as one of Asia’s foremost crypto hubs. It is also the regional base for Coinbase, the largest US crypto exchange, and Crypto.com has its headquarters there.
The country still bears the scars of a string of local blowups from the last industry downturn four years ago. Even as it doles out licences, authorities have warned consumers against crypto trading and restricted related advertising.
In a rare move last month, the MAS revoked a major payment institution licence of local crypto liquidity provider Bsquared Technology Pte Ltd just 16 months after granting it.
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