Crypto Exchange Upbit to Launch Singaporean Platform Next Month - Report

Published on 19 September 2018 by Cryptovest Staff

Upbit is expanding to Singapore with crypto-to-crypto and Singaporean dollar trading.

Dunamu, the operator of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, plans to open the platform to Singaporean investors in October, local news agency The Korea Herald reported on Wednesday.

The company, a subsidiary of South Korea’s leading internet conglomerate, Kakao, announced that the service wuld offer Singapore dollar and crypto-crypto trading of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT) and other cryptocurrencies integrated by Upbit’s US partner exchange Bittrex.

“In the future we would like to add other fiat currencies and expand in other countries in Southeast Asia,” Dunamu CEO Lee Sir-goo said as quoted by The Korea Herald.

Dunamu already opened a Singaporean office in February. The firm’s decision to advance into the nation has been fuelled by the local government’s support for blockchain technology and its positive approach towards crypto regulation.

Other industry players have also tapped into the city-state’s crypto-friendly business environment. Line, the popular Japanese instant messenger application which launched crypto trading earlier this year, also chose Singapore as home to its own exchange, BitBox, which waslaunchedin July.

“We don’t want to lose out on the opportunities now. If we wait until the Korean crypto exchange environment improves, we could lag behind our global competitors.” Sir-goo told reporters last week at the Upbit Developers Conference held on Jeju Island.

Upbit currently ranks as the tenth-largest crypto exchange by trading volume, according to CoinMarketCap data. The platform posted a $100 million profit in the third quarter of 2018, as revealed by Kakao’s recent Semiannual Report.

Last month, Upbitdisclosedthe results of the independent audit it had ordered to prove its credibility after in May local authorities broke into the company’s offices and seized servers amid suspicions of balance sheet and price manipulation. The exchange was found to be fully solvent, with reserves ratio standing at 103% and cash ratio at 127%, according to the report conducted by Yujin Accounting Corporation, one of South Korea’s leading accounting firms.