Google, Alibaba, Others Queue For Singapore Crypto Licenses

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said on Friday it has received over 300 requests, including applications from Alibaba and Google. for payments and crypto exchange licenses.

Sopnendu Mohanty, chief technology officer of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) disclosed this in an interview with Bloomberg, adding that MAS will ensure anyone who gets the license is “credible.”

"Giving licenses to somebody is a premium, it is not something to be taken lightly," Mohanty said. "We are ensuring that whoever gets a MAS license will be credible."

According to the application details, Google’s Singapore arm has notified MAS to provide account issuance services, cross-border money transfer services, merchant services, and e-money services. Alibaba has specified account issuance and merchant acquisition services. Other companies eyeing licensing include PayPal, Binance, Coinbase, Alipay, and Payoneer.

Companies apply under the Payment Services Act, a comprehensive regulatory framework for companies handling activities relating to digital assets, including payments and trading.

The companies which have applied for licensing can continue offering those services under the grace period as long as they have notified MAS that they will be offering those services. The grace period as provided by the country’s Payment Services Act effective in January 2020.

Last year, the MAS gave non-bank lenders in Singapore access to the country’s digital payments platforms PayNow and FAST, which let people move money between banks and digital wallets. The access, which went into effect this year, was through a new API developed by the two payment platforms.

In other news, the cryptocurrency markets encountered a road bump while it attempted a recovering rally on Friday morning after Tesla founder Elon Musk tweeted memes suggesting a possible "breakup" with bitcoin.