Crypto custody firm graduates Singapore Monetary Authority’s regulatory sandbox

Singapore-based Propine emerged from the MAS regulatory sandbox with a Capital Markets Services License and an authorization to begin offering digital-asset services to institutions.

Crypto-custody provider and securities firm, Propine, has graduated from the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s fintech regulatory sandbox program, emerging with a Capital Markets Services License and the green light to commence full operations.

The Singapore-based securities services firm for institutional clients was admitted entry to the MAS regulatory sandbox on Nov. 8, 2019 and participated for just over a year before being granted approval to exit on Jan. 7, according to a recent post on the firm’s website.

Singapore financial law states that a company must hold a Capital Markets Services License if it wishes to conduct business activities regulated under Singapore’s Securities and Futures Act. Upon successful completion of the program, Propine gained a CMS license and will now begin to roll out its full range of services, including, but not limited to, digital-asset custody, trade settlement facilitation, asset servicing and services catering to global securities issuers.

Propine CEO Tuhina Singh suggested that the clear regulatory framework provided by the MAS could help catalyze institutional participation in tokenization and cryptocurrency:

“Having a clear regulatory framework is of vital importance for the safe development of security token. This allows hesitant but eager institutions waiting on the sidelines, to be able to participate in tokenization. Compliant infrastructure is a rock bed on which the foundations of the security token ecosystem are created.”

The chief fintech officer of the MAS, Sopnendu Mohanty, said the digital-asset industry is growing at an accelerated pace and that regulators have a duty to provide legal safeguards so that trust in the industry doesn’t fail.

“The digital asset ecosystem, fuelled by financial technology and innovation, is growing at an accelerated rate in the financial industry. It is crucial to safeguard and service these digital assets effectively yet efficiently so that trust in this ecosystem can be maintained,” said Mohanty.

Mohanty said Propine’s custody service uses a dual-layer multisignatory mechanism that is not native to any one chain but rather is blockchain agnostic. The fintech officer said he soon hopes to see digital-asset custody solutions emerge in Singapore and abroad.