The world’s largest digital assets exchange, Binance, is keeping more than 400 remote employees based in Singapore despite the city-state’s recent tightening of cryptocurrency regulations.
Singapore’s Monetary Authority (MAS) set a strict deadline of June 30 for all crypto firms incorporated in the country to stop offering services to overseas customers unless they obtain the required licenses.
This rule has pushed some major exchanges, including Bitget and Bybit, to consider moving their staff out of Singapore. However, Binance’s unique operational model allows it to retain a large remote workforce in the country.
According to Bloomberg, most of Binance’s Singapore-based staff work in internal, back-office roles. These are employees who handle compliance, human resources, data analysis, and technical support.
As these activities involve not a single face-to-face meeting with customers in Singapore, they are not among those that are licensed under the new laws. This disparity gives more leeway to Binance compared to exchanges that have customer-facing operations in Singapore.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore clarified that remote workers located in Singapore and employed by foreign companies serving clients outside Singapore do not trigger local licensing rules.
Binance’s remote-first model avoids strict Singapore regulations
This rule is part of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022. Binance claims to be a “remote-first” firm that runs no physical office and therefore avoids most regulatory hurdles.
Though Binance has been featured on MAS’s Investor Alert List since 2021, which has stopped it from offering services to local clients, it has not completely pulled out of the Singaporean market.
Binance lacks a physical office in Singapore but still has staff working on major internal functions. This allows the company to be less exposed to more stringent MAS regulations.
The case reflects a dilemma that regulators experience when they deal with boundary-less and decentralized crypto firms that transition organizational models with ease.
As Singapore becomes more rigorous in regulating crypto activities, some of its rivals transfer operations to other locations. In comparison, organizational agility puts Binance a notch above the competition in the sector.
This flexibility is enabling Binance to have a substantial presence in Singapore and still be in conformity with regulations. This also puts Binance in good standing to capture Asia’s expanding digital asset market despite pressures from regulations.
