Australian crypto exchange enters ‘progressive’ Singapore market

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Independent Reserve cryptocurrency exchange is expanding into the Singaporean market. The Australian exchange has been eying expansion into the Asia-Pacific region, and views Singapore as the ideal market to get started with. In its statement, it cited the progressive nature of the country’s regulation as one of the biggest factors behind the expansion.

Independent Reserve has been serving users in Australia and New Zealand, allowing them to trade 14 cryptos. Boasting of 120,000 clients, it currently supports the U.S. dollar, the Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar. With its move into Singapore, it intends to add support for the Singaporean dollar, the exchange’s CEO Adrian Przelozny revealed in a statement.

The move to the Southeast Asian country follows “a number of positive moves by Singaporean regulators, including the introduction of the Payments Services Act by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS),” Przelozny stated.

The MAS is Singapore’s central bank and its chief financial regulator. It has been one of the most progressive regulators globally in regards to crypto, taking measures aimed at fostering the growth of the nascent industry. Together with leading banks, tech companies and academic institutions, the MAS has been trialing a decentralized payments system since 2016. In November last year, the regulator announced that it had launched a blockchain-powered cross-border system in collaboration with JPMorgan and Temasek.

Independent Reserve prides itself in being fully compliant. In its home country of Australia, it was one of the first two exchanges to confirm full compliance with the country’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing rules. The rules were formulated by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre in 2018, finally bringing crypto businesses under the same AML rules as other financial entities.

In Singapore, the MAS has been open-minded in terms of regulations, saying in a recent statement, “International regulatory standards in the area of crypto products are still evolving. MAS is watching these developments closely and is participating actively in international regulatory discussions on how the risks posed by crypto products are best addressed.”

Independent Reserve will face tough competition in Singapore, with the country being served by a high number of crypto exchanges. However, it’s still with its share of mishaps, such as the recent sudden temporary suspension of services by COSS crypto exchange. The exchange announced from the blue that it would be conducting maintenance activities, leading to the halting of trading, withdrawals and deposits for three to four weeks.