Singapore Passes Law For Crypto Providers; Bitcoin Rises

April 6, 2022 Singapore Blockchain

New legislation will require service providers to be licensed only if they do business overseas; Bitcoin, Ethereum up 1.14%, 1.22% in last 24 hours

Singapore’s parliament has approved a law that will tighten the rules for cryptocurrency providers in the city-state.

The new legislation will require virtual asset service providers in Singapore, which only do business overseas, to be licensed, according to a report by Bloomberg. This move is widely being seen as Singapore’s tentative embrace of the crypto industry.

At present, crypto entities in Singapore are not regulated for anti-money laundering or terror financing. The new law comes in the wake of a recent move by Singapore’s financial regulator to discourage companies in the cryptocurrency space from advertising their services to the public, further underscoring the county’s cautious approach to crypto.

Elsewhere, crypto exchange BitMEX has laid off 75 workers. This comes shortly after plans by a company founded by BitMEX’s CEO and CFO to buy one of Germany’s oldest banks, fell through.