Coinbase opens local bank transfers for Singapore users at no cost

Transfers, in Singapore dollars, are facilitated by a traditional bank, Standard Chartered, and carry no fee, the company said in a statement. Previously, users could only purchase crypto via a Visa or Mastercard debit or credit card, or transfer crypto in and out of their Coinbase account.

Hassan Ahmed, Coinbase’s country director for Singapore, told Reuters in an interview the move was part of the company’s international expansion strategy. Rivals Crypto.com and Gemini already offer a similar service.

Coinbase, which last year received in-principle approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to offer payment services in the city-state, is looking to ramp up its Singapore retail offerings, said Ahmed.

Singapore has generally welcomed crypto businesses but has been wary of encouraging retail involvement. In October, the MAS proposed rules that would forbid trading businesses from offering incentives or financing to retail customers.

Coinbase’s announcement also comes with confidence in crypto as the fallout from the spectacular collapse of crypto exchange FTX continues to reverberate through markets.

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Crypto-focused bank Silvergate Capital Corp became the latest casualty as it announced it would close down earlier in March.Signature Bank exposure

On Monday, Coinbase Global Inc said it has about $240 million in corporate cash balance with Signature Bank, it said in a tweet on Sunday, hours after the state regulators closed the New York-based lender.

“Due to FDIC’s hold on Signature’s transactions, we’re currently facilitating all client cash transactions with other banking partners,” the tweet added.

State regulators closed New York-based Signature Bank on Sunday, the third largest failure in US banking history, two days after authorities shuttered Silicon Valley Bank in a collapse that stranded billions in deposits.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) took control of Signature, which had $110.36 billion in assets and $88.59 billion in deposits at the end of last year, according to New York state’s Department of Financial Services.