Binance
Binance
NurPhoto

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance will not offer products in Singapore dollars and will stop all online communication operations in the country by Friday, after a warning from the local regulator, according to an announcement on the company's website on Sunday.

The company outlined it will stop trading cryptocurrency pairs and payment options denominated in Singapore dollars, it said it would also remove its app from the country's Apple and Google pay stores and stop all online communication, including its Telegram channel. Users have been encouraged to complete all their Singapore dollar-based trades by Thursday.

This decision comes after the Singaporean regulator put Binance.com on its investor alert list last Thursday. The list makes people aware of any unregulated platforms that the Monetary Authority of Singapore initially assumed were licensed based on the information that they had at the time of approving them.

"Binance welcomes developments to our industry's regulatory framework, as they pose opportunities for the market players to have greater collaboration with the regulators. We are committed to working constructively in policy-making that seeks to benefit every user," Binance said in a statement.

Binance is the biggest crypto exchange by trading volume, ahead of US-listed competitor Coinbase, according to CoinGecko.

Binance had previously been given a temporary exemption to provide services in Singapore, but, in line with other regulators, the MAS tightened its scrutiny to ensure consumer protection measures and adequate money-laundering controls were in place.

Singapore has joined the UK, Canada, Japan, Germany, Thailand and Italy, among other jurisdictions, who have issued bans and warnings to the exchange.

Binance announced it would up its efforts to comply with regulators in July so that it could be licensed everywhere.

Read the original article on Business Insider