The largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea Upbit has decided to extend its coverage to Singapore and start operation by October 2018.
Although a conducive environment for the cryptocurrency market, other crypto-friendly nations like Malta, South Korea, Japan and Switzerland are far ahead of Singapore in terms of crypto market growth.
This may be the motivation for Upbit extending to Singapore as the CEO of the new Upbit office Alex Kim, said the country has “openly” accepted blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, making it ideal for investors in the sector to explore many different areas of business.
The market in South Korea on the other hand is going through a period of uncertainty as the move for regulation is taking longer than necessary to approve. The legislation on cryptocurrency and blockchain must be passed for the market to be stable and analysts are looking at the end of the year for that. This made it necessary for Upbit to reach out to countries with more favourable condtions for the market.
The CEO of Dunamu, the parent company of Upbit Sigroo Lee believes regulations will be passed to get the Korean crypto market going, saying the company chose Singapore as its first international market because Singapore is a “bridge” between Korea and the crypto market.
“We felt the timing was right to expand globally despite various uncertainties surrounding the Korean market. One of the key functions of a crypto-asset exchange is to connect the real economy to cryptocurrencies, and we believe we can provide this bridge between Korea and the global market. We hope the blockchain regulatory guidelines will be established soon in Korea so that companies here can continue to grow their competitiveness.”
Meanwhile Binance, the largest crypto exchange earlier this week launched Binance Singapore and will be pairing its native token with the Singaporean Dollar for the first time. Upbit had integrated fiat pairings against the Korean Won since last year and the Singaporean Dollar this year, a gesture that suggests availability of partners to help grow the cryptocurrency market.
“We are confident Upbit’s secure and convenient exchange service, combined with the ability to trade in Singapore dollars, as well Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT via Bittrex support will allow us to attract users and establish Upbit’s presence in the global market,”
Binance and Bittrex’s decision to integrate the Singaporean Dollar is not coming as a surprise since they have just announced their intention to integrate fiat currencies in their exchange lists. It seems like the Singaporean market will be attracting more exchanges with this development.
