Binance will close its Singapore trading market after being included in the list of investors to beware of by the Monetary Authority of Singapore

On September 5, Binance announced on its official website that it will stop trading and payment options for Singapore dollars starting September 10, and the App will be removed from Apple and Singapore mobile app stores.

The company calls on users to complete all relevant person-to-person transactions by Thursday (September 9) at the latest and remove related transaction advertisements to avoid transaction disputes.

Earlier on September 2, the Monetary Authority of Singapore added Binance.com to the investor warning list. According to the Ministry of Commerce, citing Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao, a spokesperson for the Monetary Authority of Singapore responded to media inquiries by saying that the Monetary Authority of Singapore has reviewed the business of the Binance trading platform and believes that the platform operator Binance may have violated Singapore's Payment Services Act because it provides payment services to Singapore residents without an appropriate license. Therefore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore has included the Binance trading platform in the list of investors to be vigilant to warn Singapore consumers.

A MAS spokesperson said Binance must stop providing payment services regulated by Singapore’s Payment Services Act to Singapore residents and stop soliciting Singapore residents to use its payment services.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore launched the Investor Alert List in 2004, allowing citizens to check the list before investing so as to make more informed investment choices. The Monetary Authority of Singapore said that individuals or companies on the list are often mistakenly believed by the outside world to be engaged in activities regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

On September 5, Binance founder Zhao Changpeng explained the announcement on Twitter, saying that Binance.com does not operate in Singapore and will remove the corresponding Singapore dollar trading pairs from the website. For users in Singapore, it is recommended to use Binance Singapore (Binance.sg).

The station is an independent entity, exempted from the Singaporean law, the Payment Services Act, and operates under a Singaporean regulatory license.

Previously on August 10, the Monetary Authority of Singapore provided the reporter of Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily with a list of companies that met the licensing requirements, including Binance Asia Services PTE. LTD.

In addition, Binance told Blue Whale Finance that it is currently working closely with the Monetary Authority of Singapore and other global regulators to comply with relevant regulatory standards and promote any necessary service changes.

Binance was founded in 2017 and is one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges. Its founder, Changpeng Zhao, was listed on Forbes Asia's 2021 list of Singapore's 50 richest people, ranking 22nd with a net worth of US$1.9 billion.

Since April, Binance has faced tightening and scrutiny from financial regulators in many countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Malaysia, due to its huge trading volume, which poses risks such as money laundering and endangering consumer transaction security.

For example, in June this year, Binance Markets, a subsidiary of Binance, was ordered to stop operating in the UK, suspected of failing to meet anti-money laundering regulations. On July 30, Binance issued a statement saying that it would gradually suspend derivatives trading in Europe. On the same day, the Securities Commission of Malaysia stated that it would take enforcement action against Binance for illegally operating the Digital Asset Exchange (DAX), requiring the exchange to stop its business in Malaysia.

In July, Zhao Changpeng said he was willing to resign as the company sought to become a regulated financial institution.

According to Coincap statistics, as of September 7, the 24-hour trading volume of Binance spot and derivatives was US$2.5 billion (about RMB 163.9 billion). In May this year, the data was US$168.2 billion (about RMB 1.086 trillion), exceeding the total daily trading volume of the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets during the same period.