thecoinrepublic.com
- According to Coinmarketcap, Huobi, the world’s sixth-largest crypto exchange by volume
- Singapore has been more open to bitcoin than some of its regional counterparts
- The MAS has given the platform a licensing exemption while their application under the Payment Services Act is being reviewed
According to Coinmarketcap, Huobi, the world’s sixth-largest crypto exchange by volume, said that to comply with the regulations of Singapore, we would have to list Singapore as a restricted country.
The site will close all Singapore users’ accounts by March 31, 2019, and access to Huobi services will be gradually phased off beginning on that date.
Users in Singapore should take urgent action to terminate their active positions and remove their digital assets before that date, according to Huobi.
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It remained unclear what prompted Huobi’s withdrawal from Singapore. However, the business claimed late Wednesday that it was planning to wind down services in Singapore so that it could set up Huobi Singapore, a new, regulated corporation that is slated to open by the end of the year.
Singapore has been more open to bitcoin than some of its regional counterparts. The city-de state’s facto central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, authorizes cryptocurrency exchanges and associated businesses. Huobi Singapore is a subsidiary of FEU International, which is owned by Hong Kong-based Huobi Technology.
The MAS has given the platform a licensing exemption while their application under the Payment Services Act is being reviewed. In all, 170 crypto businesses, including Huobi rivals Coinbase and Kraken, have filed for licenses with the MAS. Global exchanges such as By bit and KuCoin have also established themselves in the city.
Huobi’s new ambitions for Singapore come on the heels of the platform’s announcement on Monday to move its spot trading services from Seychelles, where it was operating as a registered but unregulated entity—to Gibraltar in order to align with the global crypto sector heading towards compliant growth.
A month earlier, the business ceased providing services to mainland Chinese consumers when the country’s top officials escalated their crypto crackdown, officially prohibiting all cryptocurrency trading and mining. It was China’s second move this year against the digital currency.
China prohibited financial institutions and payment companies from providing cryptocurrency-related services in May.
According to CryptoCompare statistics, Huobi’s entire trade volume fell 74% from May to October this year, reaching $211 billion.
The closure of Huobi’s China services would result in a 30% loss in income. Huobi is in the process of discontinuing service to all Chinese users. The platform will not have any Chinese users.
As a result, our income from these clients will be nil. In recent months, worldwide regulators have fought back against cryptocurrency exchanges such as Huobi and associated businesses, claiming that greater transparency and regulation are required to limit the hazards of the crypto market.