Singapore’s government-owned Temasek Holding has made an investment in Binance to open a fiat-to-crypto exchange in the island nation.
Binance to Enter Singapore
Binance, one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, has received funding from Singapore’s state-owned firm Temasek Holdings. The investment has been made through Vertex Ventures, Temasek’s venture capital arm, to fund the development of a fiat-to-cryptocurrency exchange in Singapore. The company has not revealed the exact amount of investment.
The venture is being jointly supported by Vertex’s China and Southeast Asia & India branches. According to Bloomberg, the fund would also support fiat-to-cryptocurrency platforms from other companies.
Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, in a Twitter post last month, said:
I just slipped that we will begin Binance Singapore fiat exchange live money closed beta testing on Sept 18th, in 3 days. Invitation only first. Exciting!
Referring to the non-disclosure of the amount invested Zhao tweeted:
More important than how much you raise, is who you raise it from. […] Finding a strategic investor who genuinely wants to help you is key. Many thanks to [Vertex Ventures] for all the help!
Binance also recently launched a fiat-to-cryptocurrency exchange in Uganda as part of its Africa growth strategy.
Aggressive Growth Plans
Since its launch more than a year ago, Binance has achieved exponential growth despite the regulatory obstacles it has faced in China, Japan, and New York. The company recently shifted its office to crypto-friendly Malta.
Binance achieved the feat of becoming the fastest company to be valued at $1 billion this year, and has established itself as a leading player in the cryptocurrency space. The unprecedented success has been followed by an aggressive growth strategy.
The company recently established Binance Labs, an investment fund, and has already made several investments in blockchain start-ups like eSports and TravelbyBit. Earlier in July the firm also created a blockchain charitable foundation in Malta and a couple of weeks back announced that it would donate 100% of its listing fee.
After establishing itself as a leading exchange in the crypto-to-crypto space, Binance is now looking to make its mark in the fiat-to-crypto markets.
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