Latest news with #SuvashreeGhosh
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Singapore order leads unlicensed crypto exchanges to weigh exit
By Suvashree Ghosh (Bloomberg) — A final warning from Singapore's regulator has prompted major crypto exchanges operating in the country without a permit to plan for a hasty exit. Bitget and Bybit – top-10 exchange operators by volume with a presence in Singapore but no local license – plan to reorganise their teams, according to people familiar with the matter. Bitget will shift staff to jurisdictions including Dubai and Hong Kong, while Bybit is weighing similar moves, said the people, who refused to be identified as the plans are confidential. Singapore is among Asia's foremost crypto hubs and a regional base for major global players such as Coinbase and But it still bears the scars of a string of local blow-ups from the last industry downturn in 2022. Even as it doles out licenses, authorities in the city-state have warned consumers against trading cryptocurrencies and restricted related advertisements. Other digital-asset firms in the country warn that hundreds of jobs could be at stake. The companies hit hardest by the MAS deadline are offshore exchanges. Collectively, such firms have a 'significant number' – in the hundreds – of staff based in Singapore, according to Arthur Cheong, founder and CIO of DeFiance Capital LLC. In its 30 May announcement, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) set a deadline of 30 June for crypto firms based in the city-state and offering services offshore to cease activities, refusing to allow transition time and warning that further licenses would be granted under 'extremely limited' circumstances. Firms with front-office functions including sales and business development based in Singapore or with customers located overseas both fall within the scope of the regulation, MAS said. 'It's quite severe,' said Patrick Tan, general counsel at ChainArgos, a blockchain intelligence firm that isn't affected by the notice. 'This is almost is as good as an evacuation procedure.' Representatives of Bitget and Bybit declined to comment on their plans. 'This move should also not come as a surprise to the industry as we have consistently communicated our position on such service providers on various occasions,' said an MAS spokesperson in response to questions from Bloomberg News. They added that licensed entities are not impacted by the new regulations. The recent notice from the MAS follows on from the Financial Services and Markets Act, passed in 2022, in which the watchdog had warned of a crackdown on unlicensed crypto companies. In a 6 June clarification, the MAS sought to quell industry concerns stemming from its 30 May announcement by specifying that only a 'very small' number of providers would be affected. But questions remain as to which firms must pay heed to the June 30 deadline. 'Calls are at all hours given the impact on businesses headquartered outside Singapore,' said Chris Holland, partner at Singaporean consulting firm HM. 'Queries range from regulated firms wanting to confirm there is no unexpected operational impact to offshore businesses needing to derisk their Singapore activities.' Crypto firms have a long history of leaving their base of operations ambiguous, posing challenges for would-be regulators. Binance Holdings Ltd., the world's largest digital-asset exchange, has never named a global headquarters. Its Chief Executive Officer Richard Teng said in 2024 that it had held talks with a number of jurisdictions on the matter, but more recently he described Binance employees as 'remote-first'. Binance has been on Singapore's investor alert list since 2021. A company spokesperson said the firm is committed to respecting local policies and regulations worldwide, without elaborating on its presence in the city-state. Crypto entities that make use of Singapore-based teams 'to support offshore operations without clear service delineation' is another gray area, said Grace Chong, head of financial regulatory practice in Singapore at Drew & Napier LLC. The MAS may assess such arrangements on a case-by-case basis, she added. More stories like this are available on ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Bloomberg
06-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Eric Trump Touts Crypto Stablecoin in Dubai's Power Lounges
Suvashree Ghosh reports on Eric Trump rubbing elbows with some big shots of the crypto world at last week's conference in Dubai. The scene looked like a gathering of the first family of crypto.
Bloomberg
22-04-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
A 325% Stock Surge Greets a Tiny Company's Strategy to Buy Solana
Suvashree Ghosh sizes up the risks inherent in the latest efforts to turn public companies into crypto piggybanks. Michael Saylor-led Strategy's Bitcoin-accumulation plan is finding more and more fans. Companies are imitating this simple looking, cash churning model by raising funds to buy crypto tokens at a time when volatile digital assets are outrunning stocks.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tiger-backed Razorpay eyes group profit, expands to Singapore
By Suvashree Ghosh (Bloomberg) – Indian fintech firm Razorpay Software has earmarked group profitability as a key milestone on the road to a stock market listing, which it intends to stage within the next three years. The Tiger Global Management-backed company is focused on becoming profitable on a consolidated basis across all business verticals, said Shashank Kumar, co-founder and managing director of Razorpay in an interview with Bloomberg News. 'We're 2-3 years away from IPO,' he added. While its core payments segment is already profitable, Razorpay remains loss-making at the group level, with its neo-banking and lending services yet to break even. Billion-dollar, private technology startups – so-called unicorns – face a reckoning amid a slowing IPO market and a souring fundraising market. Many are shifting their near-term focus to profitability. Bengaluru-based Razorpay, last valued at $7.5 billion in a 2021 funding round co-led by Lone Pine Capital, Alkeon Capital Management and TCV, saw net income jump 360% to 340 million rupees ($4 million) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024, helped by its mainstay payment gateway operations. As part of plans to boost revenues, the company is expanding into other countries. It launched in Singapore on March 7 and over the next few years will also explore rollouts in Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and the Middle East. Razorpay wants to tap into Singapore's e-commerce market, which is expected to reach $40 billion in the next three years, Kumar said. More broadly, e-commerce payments in Southeast Asia are expected to more than double from 2022 to $273.3 billion by 2027, according to a 2023 report by IDC. Razorpay aims to capture $5 billion in total payment volume from the region, with real-time payments in Singapore and cross-border payments two focal points. Its plans follow the 2024 unveiling of Project Nexus, a Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub project facilitating connections between the instant payment rails of Singapore, India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand to facilitate low-cost cross-border payments. Razorpay has raised $741.5 million to date from backers including Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, Tiger Global, Peak XV, Salesforce Ventures and Y Combinator, it said in a statement. More stories like this are available on ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
