Singapore’s watchdog says Binance placed on Investor Alert List over FTX due to unlicensed activity

According to information on Nov. 21, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said it had placed Binance on the Investor Alert List (IAL) instead of bankrupt FTX. statement.

Watchdog added that neither Binance nor FTX are licensed to operate in Singapore.

Binance on IAL

The regulator noted that the Changpeng Zhao-led exchange has introduced features such as “offering listings in Singapore dollars and accepting Singapore-specific payment modes such as PayNow and PayLah” to attract Singaporeans. .

MAS said it received multiple complaints about Binance between January and August 2021. During this period, regulators noted that several countries such as Italy, Japan and others have issued statements that their exchanges are operating without the necessary licenses within their jurisdictions.

MAS further emphasized that it has asked Singapore’s Ministry of Commerce to investigate whether Binance has violated the Payment Services Act (PS Act).

Meanwhile, MAS said it had ordered Binance to stop soliciting users in Singapore. The exchange has introduced measures such as removing the application from the Singapore app store and geo-blocking his IP address in Singapore.

According to the authorities, these actions demonstrated the exchange’s compliance with the ban.

FTX is not looking for Singapore users

MAS said it did not list the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange on the IAL because it was not looking for users in Singapore, and that trading on its platform was not via the national currency.

The regulator said it cannot list FTX on the IAL because there is no evidence that the exchange violated the PS Act.

The watchdog also said that because FTX is an unregulated entity operating offshore, it cannot order assets to be backed with reserves.

Regulators say not all offshore crypto exchanges can be added to the IAL because “hundreds of such exchanges and thousands of other entities offshore accept investments in non-crypto assets.” He concluded, adding that it would be impossible to list them all.

Meanwhile, regulators said on November 14 that the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX does not operate in the country. Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin said the county’s regulatory efforts could fail because of its skeptical approach to the industry.