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131221 Best Exchange Comparison 2

Best Crypto Exchange 2022: Which Is The Top Centralised Crypto Exchange to Use?

profileJoel Koh

13 Dec 2021 Update: Binance Pulls Out of Singapore — Binance.sg Users To Withdraw Funds and Assets by 13 Feb 2022

On Monday, 13 Dec 2021, Binance Asia Services (BAS), the separate entity that runs cryptocurrency exchange Binance.sg, announced that it had rescinded its application for a Monetary of Singapore (MAS) Major Payment Institution Licence to run a cryptocurrency exchange in Singapore.

In addition, BAS announced that it will immediately cease registrations and all fiat and cryptocurrency deposits and trades on Binance.sg.

Not to mention that the company will cease operations and exit Singapore by 13 Feb 2022.

If you are a Binance.sg user, note that BAS has advised all its users to:

close all open positions and withdraw their Singapore dollar and cryptocurrency assets by that date.

The company has also sent an email to its users with instructions on what to do next.


Although the price of Bitcoin has fallen from its all-time high of US$69,044 (according to CoinGecko) in November 2021 to about US$48,760 (at time of writing), it is still one of the best performing asset classes in the last decade.

Source: Charlie Bilello | Twitter

Bitcoin’s annualised return of about 230% and a cumulative return that exceeds 20,000,000% simply crushes all the other asset classes.

And we have not even begun to mention the other cryptocurrencies that have delivered better returns, albeit over a shorter time frame.

Of course, you need to remember that past performance is not indicative of future returns. There is no telling if Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can continue their bull run.

Not to mention that cryptocurrencies are still infamous for their high volatility, with the price of the biggest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin falling 50% from its all-time high regularly.

Regardless, I think it’s hard to ignore cryptocurrencies as an asset class.

There has been growing institutional and retail adoption of cryptocurrencies and the decentralised finance (DeFi) movement: an ecosystem of decentralised financial services offered on the blockchain that cuts out intermediaries.

If you are looking to get your toes wet and invest in some cryptocurrencies, you are in the right place.

Here are some of the best-centralised cryptocurrency exchanges for you to consider.


TL;DR: Top Crypto Exchange in Singapore 2021

Cryptocurrency ExchangeTrading Fees (Per Trade)Pro Account Trading FeesSupported CryptocurrenicesSupported Fiat Currencies
Deposit Fees (Fiat)Withdrawal Fees (Fiat)
FTX0.02% | 0.07%
(basic tier)
-160+ (BTC, ETH, USDT, FTT, BNB, BCH, Link, AAVE, SOL)10 (USD, SGD, EUR, GBP, AUD, HKD, ZAR, CAD, CHF, BRL)Overseas bank transfer:
Free

Credit/Debit Card: Free (but your bank may charge foreign transaction and cash advance fees of ~3%)
US$75 fee on USD withdrawals below US$10,000
Crypto.com0.4%
(basic tier)
-200+ (BTC, LTC, ETH, CRO, ENJ, BAT, PAX, USDC, OMG, KNC & more)19+ (USD, AUD, CAD, CHF, EUR, GBP, NZD, SGD, JPY, ZAR)Xfers SGD deposit: Free

Overseas bank transfer (e.g. USD):
Free
(min. US$500 per deposit)

Credit/Debit Card:
3.50% + $0.10
Xfers SGD withdrawal:
0.4%
Independent Reserve0.5%
(basic tier)
-16 (BTC, ETH, ADA, USDC, XRP, DOT, BCH, LINK, LTC, Etc.)4 (AUD, USD, NZD & SGD)Xfers SGD deposit direct charge:
0.55%

Bank transfer (SWIFT): $15 or free for deposits over S$5,000
Bank transfer:
$1.50 for AUD
$20 for other currencies

Xfers:
0.55%
Coinhako1%
(flat)
-23 (BTC, ETH, XRP, BCH, LTC, ADA, XLM, NEO, XMR, DOT & more)
full support (buy, sell, swap, send & receive

35 (BNB, NEO, FIL, XMR, ADA, THETA, SOL)
partial support (buy, sell, swap) wallet features not available

2 (USDT & USDC)
special support for Coinhako USD wallet
4 (SGD, IDR, VND, USD)
SGD FAST transfer:
Free

Xfers SGD deposit direct charge:
0.55%

USD deposits in form of USDT/USDT:
Free
SGD FAST transfer:
S$2

USD Withdrawals in form of USDT/USDT:
US$15
Gemini1.49%+
(flat with minimum fee up to S$4 for trades less than S$250)
+
Additional convenience fee of 0.5%
Active Trader:
0.35% (base tier)
55+ (BTC, ETH, BCH, LTC, ZEC, ZRX, MKR, BAT, AAVE, FIL & more)7 (USD, AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP, SGD, HKD)SGD FAST transfer:
Free

Xfers SGD deposit direct charge:
0.55%

Overseas bank transfer (e.g. USD):
Free

Debit Card:
3.49%
Xfers SGD withdrawal:
Free

SGD FAST transfer:
Free

Overseas bank transfer (e.g. USD):
Free
Coinbase1.49%+
(flat with minimum fee up to US$2.99 for trades less than US$250)
+
Additional variable spread fee of 0.50% (base tier)
Coinbase Pro:
From 0.5% (base tier)
140+ (ATOM, BAT, BTC, BCH, XRP, DAI, DASH, EOS, ETH, ETC & more)20+ (USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, MXN, HRK, CZK, DKK, CLP, BGN) Overseas bank transfer (US$10 + bank fees)

Credit/Debit Card:
3.99% + 7% of transaction fee (GST)
SWIFT transfer (US$25 + bank fees)

Do note that even though these cryptocurrency exchanges might not charge for fiat deposits or withdrawals, your bank or financial institution may impose fees on their end. So please do check with your banks or financial institution first.

Click to Teleport

Disclaimer: The information provided by Seedly serves as an educational piece and is not intended to be personalised investment advice. Seedly does not recommend that any cryptocurrency should be bought, sold, or held by you.​ Readers should always do their own due diligence and consider their financial goals before investing in any investment product and consult your financial advisor before making any investment decisions.


Regulation of Cryptocurrency Exchanges in Singapore

Cryptocurrencies or Digital Payment Tokens (DPT), as the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), would term it are not regulated by MAS as they are not considered legal tender or securities.

In other words, there is no legislative protection or recourse for you if you buy or sell cryptocurrencies and something goes wrong.

MAS has made it crystal clear that:

  • They (MAS) will not be able to help you in any way if you lose money from dealing with digital tokens that are not products regulated by MAS. This includes situations where the digital token service is provided by an entity regulated by MAS, but where the digital token is not regulated by MAS.
  • If you choose to deal with an unregulated person or entity or invest in unregulated products, you will not be protected under MAS regulations. If you suspect that an investment scheme involving digital tokens could be fraudulent or is being misused for any illicit activity, you should report it to the police immediately.
  • As for cryptocurrencies, persons that buy or sell cryptocurrencies, or facilitate the exchange of cryptocurrencies may be regulated under the Payment Services Act 2019. However, they are not required to protect your cryptocurrency and are not required to ensure that each cryptocurrency transaction is processed properly. MAS regulates cryptocurrency service providers under the Payment Services Act 2019 mainly for money-laundering and terrorism financing risk only.

This is made clear with this advisory that MAS requires DPT service providers to show to customers:

  • Your DPT service provider is licensed by MAS to provide DPT services. Please note that this does not mean you will be able to recover all the money or DPTs you paid to your DPT service provider if your DPT service provider’s business fails.
  • You should not transact in the DPT if you are not familiar with this DPT. Transacting in DPTs may not be suitable for you if you are not familiar with the technology that DPT services are provided.
  • You should be aware that the value of DPTs may fluctuate greatly. You should buy DPTs only if you are prepared to accept the risk of losing all of the money you put into such tokens.

In another parliamentary reply on 26 Jul 2021, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister and Minister in charge of MAS, has also stated that:

As part of the transitional arrangements, entities that were engaged in regulated activities before the commencement of the Act were exempted from holding a licence if they submitted licence applications before the end of a specified grace period.

The specified grace period for digital payment token (DPT) service providers ended in July 2020, six months after the commencement of the PS Act. The exemption remains in force until the applications are approved or rejected by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) or withdrawn by the applicant.

Mr Tharman added that there are currently about 90 such DPT service providers that operate under this exemption. In other words, they are currently not regulated by MAS.

The complete list of these DPT service providers can be found here.

As of 26 Jul 2021, MAS has received over 170 applicants who have applied for a license to provide DPT services.

However, 30 DPT service provider applications have been withdrawn after consultation with MAS, while an additional two applications have been rejected.

In an interview with The Business Times, a MAS spokesperson stated that ‘a number of DPT applicants have not met its standards in the area of money laundering and terrorism financing and technology risk controls.’

Also, two entities, DBS Vickers (DBS’s brokerage arm) and Australian cryptocurrency exchange Independent Reserve were recently granted Major Payment Institution Licences by MAS to offer DPT services in Singapore.

The Independent Reserve exchange is currently up and running, and you can trade cryptocurrencies there. But, DBS Vickers DBS’s (SGX: D05) is presently only allowing asset managers and companies to trade in digital payment tokens through its DBS Digital Exchange (DDEx).

Also, one more risk you have to consider.

In the world of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain, there is a popular saying:

Not your keys, not your coin.

In other words, when you are trading cryptocurrencies on any centralised cryptocurrency exchanges, you are handing over the private keys for your cryptocurrencies and entrusting them to a third party.

Ultimately, the one holding the private keys to the cryptocurrencies decides how it’s spent.

Suppose you are really spooked by recent events. In that case, you should consider transferring your large cryptocurrency holdings onto your own cryptocurrency cold wallet, where you are holding on to the private keys.

This will give you complete control over your cryptocurrencies.

Cold wallets keep your cryptocurrencies safe, as well as they are not connected to the internet, which makes them harder to hack.

Here are a few cold cryptocurrency hardware wallets to consider:

With that out of the way, let’s dive into the exchanges I’ll be comparing and why I chose them.

Criteria For Choosing Crypto Exchanges

Here are our criteria for picking the cryptocurrency exchanges for this comparison.

Firstly, we have included the world’s largest and most reputable cryptocurrency exchanges.

At the time of writing (according to CoinMarketCap), Binance, Coinbase, FTX, KuCoin, and Huobi Global are five of the biggest cryptocurrency spot exchanges in the world.

FYI: CoinMarketCap ranks and scores exchanges based on traffic, liquidity, trading volumes, and confidence in the legitimacy of trading volumes reported).

We are excluding KuCoin due to their legal troubles as an injunction was against the company was filed by the High Court of Singapore.

Also, Binance.com is excluded from this list as they will be suspending key services for its Singapore users from 26 Oct 2021, 12pm.

Binance.sg will also be excluded from this list as the exchange is exiting Singapore by 13 Feb 2022.

We will also exclude Huobi Global as the exchange closes all its Singapore users accounts on 31 Mar 2022.

But, we will be including some of the more reputable exchanges like Coinhako, Crypto.com and Gemini as they are allowed to operate in Singapore.

These exchanges have applied for an exemption under the Payment Services Act (PSA) with MAS. Thus, they can operate in Singapore without a license.

Also, we will include the Australian cryptocurrency exchange Independent Reserve as they have been granted ‘in-principle approval’ for a major payment institution license by MAS to offer DPT services.

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Crypto Exchanges in Singapore Compared: FTX vs Crypto.com vs Independent Reserve vs Coinhako vs Gemini vs Coinbase

Cryptocurrency ExchangeTrading Fees (Per Trade)Pro Account Trading FeesSupported CryptocurrenicesSupported Fiat Currencies
Deposit Fees (Fiat)Withdrawal Fees (Fiat)
FTX0.02% | 0.07%
(basic tier)
-160+ (BTC, ETH, USDT, FTT, BNB, BCH, Link, AAVE, SOL)10 (USD, SGD, EUR, GBP, AUD, HKD, ZAR, CAD, CHF, BRL)Overseas bank transfer:
Free

Credit/Debit Card: Free (but your bank may charge foreign transaction and cash advance fees of ~3%)
US$75 fee on USD withdrawals below US$10,000
Crypto.com0.4%
(basic tier)
-200+ (BTC, LTC, ETH, CRO, ENJ, BAT, PAX, USDC, OMG, KNC & more)19+ (USD, AUD, CAD, CHF, EUR, GBP, NZD, SGD, JPY, ZAR)Xfers SGD deposit: Free

Overseas bank transfer (e.g. USD):
Free
(min. US$500 per deposit)

Credit/Debit Card:
3.50% + $0.10
Xfers SGD withdrawal:
0.4%
Independent Reserve0.5%
(basic tier)
-16 (BTC, ETH, ADA, USDC, XRP, DOT, BCH, LINK, LTC, Etc.)4 (AUD, USD, NZD & SGD)Xfers SGD deposit direct charge:
0.55%

Bank transfer (SWIFT): $15 or free for deposits over S$5,000
Bank transfer:
$1.50 for AUD
$20 for other currencies

Xfers:
0.55%
Coinhako1%
(flat)
-23 (BTC, ETH, XRP, BCH, LTC, ADA, XLM, NEO, XMR, DOT & more)
full support (buy, sell, swap, send & receive

35 (BNB, NEO, FIL, XMR, ADA, THETA, SOL)
partial support (buy, sell, swap) wallet features not available

2 (USDT & USDC)
special support for Coinhako USD wallet
4 (SGD, IDR, VND, USD)
SGD FAST transfer:
Free

Xfers SGD deposit direct charge:
0.55%

USD deposits in form of USDT/USDT:
Free
SGD FAST transfer:
S$2

USD Withdrawals in form of USDT/USDT:
US$15
Gemini1.49%+
(flat with minimum fee up to S$4 for trades less than S$250)
+
Additional convenience fee of 0.5%
Active Trader:
0.35% (base tier)
55+ (BTC, ETH, BCH, LTC, ZEC, ZRX, MKR, BAT, AAVE, FIL & more)7 (USD, AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP, SGD, HKD)SGD FAST transfer:
Free

Xfers SGD deposit direct charge:
0.55%

Overseas bank transfer (e.g. USD):
Free

Debit Card:
3.49%
Xfers SGD withdrawal:
Free

SGD FAST transfer:
Free

Overseas bank transfer (e.g. USD):
Free
Coinbase1.49%+
(flat with minimum fee up to US$2.99 for trades less than US$250)
+
Additional variable spread fee of 0.50% (base tier)
Coinbase Pro:
From 0.5% (base tier)
140+ (ATOM, BAT, BTC, BCH, XRP, DAI, DASH, EOS, ETH, ETC & more)20+ (USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, MXN, HRK, CZK, DKK, CLP, BGN) Overseas bank transfer (US$10 + bank fees)

Credit/Debit Card:
3.99% + 7% of transaction fee (GST)
SWIFT transfer (US$25 + bank fees)

Crypto Exchange Cryptocurrency Withdrawal Fees

However, suppose you want to transfer your cryptocurrency to other cryptocurrency exchanges, stake your cryptocurrency on other platforms or withdraw your cryptocurrency to another cryptocurrency wallet. In that case, you will need to pay a withdrawal fee.

This withdrawal fee is often dynamic and depends on the demand and supply for the computational power required to process the transaction on the specific blockchain network.

For these transactions, the exchanges will charge you a fee based on their estimate of the network transaction fees they anticipate paying for each transaction.

In certain circumstances, the exchanges’ fee may differ from that estimate. But, all the fees that the exchanges charge will be disclosed at the time of your transaction.

COINLOWESTAVERAGEMEDIANHIGHESTEXCHANGES COMPARED
BTC

Bitcoin
FREE$21.47$21.35$64.05
0.0015 BTC
43
ETH

Ethereum
FREE$20.94$14.84$59.34
0.02 ETH
41
ADA

Cardano
FREE$14.06$2.17$292.91
135.14 ADA
26
USDT

Tether
FREE$18.14$14.51$100.05
100 USDT
34
BNB

Binance Coin
FREE$4.56$2.04$34.08
0.1 BNB
17
XRP

XRP
$0.0004
0.0005 XRP
$0.83$0.23$4.69
5 XRP
25
SOL

Solana
FREE$1.65$1.39$5.00
0.036 SOL
11
USDC

USD Coin
FREE$15.07$12.00$64.75
64.72275 USDC
31
DOT

Polkadot
FREE$5.78$2.82$27.36
0.97 DOT
22

Source: Withdrawalfees.com

All exchanges charge this cryptocurrency withdrawal fee, except Gemini, which offers their customers 10 free cryptocurrency withdrawals every calendar month.

Also, here is more information about the exchanges.

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FTX Review

First up, we have cryptocurrency derivatives exchange FTX.

Fun fact, the exchange was founded by 29-year-old Sam Bankman-Fried, the second richest cryptocurrency billionaire in the world.

Friedman graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2014 with a physics degree. After graduation, he started his career as a Wall Street exchange-traded fund (ETF) trader at Jane Street Capital.

Subsequently, he founded Alameda Research, a quantitative cryptocurrency trading firm, in October 2017 and cryptocurrency derivatives exchange FTX in April 2019.

FTX is a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange that is more geared towards traders.

The exchange has a wide range of innovative products like industry-first derivatives, options, volatility products and leveraged tokens.

But do note that FTX users in Singapore cannot trade any stock tokens (and any related products or derivatives) and prediction contracts like Trading Trump 2020.

That being said, FTX may be a little intimidating for those who are new to cryptocurrency due to its massive suite of products.

But, the good thing is that the exchange supports SGD deposits and withdrawals. You can deposit SGD into FTX and convert it in your FTX account. Do note that this will incur the exchange’s trading fee.

  • Low fees (Maker: 0.00 – 0.02% and Taker: 0.04 – 0.07%) per trade for unleveraged spot and futures transactions:
    • 30-day trade volumeMaker feesTaker fees
      US$00.02%0.07%
      >US$2 million0.02%0.06%
      >US$5 million0.01%0.06%
      >US$10 million0.01%0.05%
      >US$25 million0.00%0.05%
      >US$50 million0.00%0.04%
  • FTX users can trade 160 plus cryptocurrencies on its spot exchange.
  • Deposits and withdrawals on FTX are free, except for ETH, ERC-20 tokens, or small BTC withdrawals.  FTX users will have to pay the gas fees for all ETH, ERC20 tokens unless they have FTT staked.
    • Note: For free withdrawals, however, in the case of a user whose fiat/stablecoin deposit/withdrawal volume exceeds their trading volume, FTX reserves the right to charge a withdrawal fee of up to 0.10%.  We will reach out to any users affected before applying this.
    • Small BTC withdrawal fees: BTC withdrawals > 0.01 BTC are free. BTC withdrawals < 0.01 BTC are charged withdrawal fees after your first free one per day.

Cons

  • Hefty fiat withdrawal fees: FTX charges a US$75 fee on USD withdrawals below US$10,000. The exchange charges a 0.3% + R$10 withdrawal fee for Brazillian Real.
    But, there are no fees on any other fiat currencies, and you can circumvent this withdrawal fee by withdrawing your cryptocurrency to other exchanges.

Is FTX Safe?

In terms of safety, FTX has implemented several bank-like security features to protect its users’ personal information and assets.

At the time of writing, the exchange has yet to be hacked or exploited. This could be attributed to the exchange’s employment of high-security measures like two-factor authentication and cold wallet storage of most of its customers’ funds.

The exchange has also undergone a security audit by Blockchain Consilium. The report can be accessed here.

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Crypto.com Review

Crypto.com was founded back in 2016 as Monaco Technologies GmbH with Kris Marszalek as CEO.

The company underwent a rebranding and became Crypto.com in July 2018.

Crypto.com serves over 10 million customers today, with the world’s fastest-growing crypto app, along with the Crypto.com Visa Card, the Crypto.com Exchange and Crypto.com DeFi Wallet.

To access Crypto.com in Singapore, you will need to download the Crypto.com mobile app on iOS and Android. With the app, you can access the entire Crypto.com ecosystem.

Although the company is headquartered in Hong Kong, it has an office in Singapore located at:

111 North Bridge Road #08-19 Pennisula Plaza Singapore 179098

Pros

  • Affordable fees (starts from 0.40% per trade).
    LEVEL30D TRADING VOLUME (USD)MAKERTAKERDISCOUNTED MAKER/TAKER
    10% OFF
    Level 1$0 - $25,0000.40%0.40%0.360%0.360%
    Level 2$25,001 - $50,0000.35%0.35%0.315%0.315%
    Level 3$50,001 - $100,0000.15%0.25%0.135%0.225%
    Level 4$100,001 - $250,0000.10%0.16%0.090%0.144%
    Level 5$250,001 - $1,000,0000.09%0.15%0.081%0.135%
    Level 6$1,000,001 - $20,000,0000.08%0.14%0.072%0.126%
    Level 7$20,000,001 - $100,000,0000.07%0.13%0.063%0.117%
    Level 8$100,000,001 - $200,000,0000.06%0.12%0.054%0.108%
    Level 9$200,000,001 and above0.04%0.10%0.036%0.090%

    *Crypto.com’s trading fees are volume-based: users get more discounts as your trading volume increases. For even more savings, stake CRO and pay your trading fees in CRO. As a bonus, you even get earnings of 10% p.a. on your CRO stake!
  • Easy to convert fiat to cryptocurrency.
  • Can trade 200 plus different cryptocurrencies.
  • Highly secure.
  • You can stake your cryptocurrency to earn interest.
  • Has a Crypto.com Visa card with cashback rewards.

Cons

  • Fees are decent but could be lower.

Is Crypto.com Safe?

Crypto.com is rather secure and claims to be the first cryptocurrency company in the world to have these security certifications:

  • ISO/IEC 27701:2019
  • CCSS Level 3
  • ISO27001:2013
  • PCI:DSS 3.2.1, Level 1 compliance.

The company was also independently audited by world-renowned audit firm Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS). This audit led to the company being awarded a Tier 4 certification, the highest level for both NIST Cybersecurity and Privacy Frameworks.

Recently, Crypto.com has also announced that that it has increased its total cryptocurrency insurance coverage to US$750M.

Source: Crypto.com

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Independent Reserve

Established in 2013, Independent Reserve is an Australian institutional-grade cryptocurrency exchange with an order book enabling Australian New Zealand and Singapore clients to securely trade, invest and hold digital currencies.

The exchange has been operating in Singapore since 2019, providing Cryptocurrency exchange and over the counter trading services for its users.

In August 2021, Independent Reserve announced that they have received in-principle approval from MAS to offer DPT services in Singapore, living up to their mission of becoming a pro-regulation platform with the highest security to access cryptocurrencies.

That’s not all.

The exchange recently launched its app on iOS and Android, which will allow you to trade cryptocurrency on the go.

But should you choose the Independent Reserve Exchange for your Cryptocurrency needs?

Check out the exchange’s Pros and Cons to find out.

Pros

  • Granted in-principle approval by MAS to operate as a Major Payment Institution in Singapore.
  • Fees are neither too high nor low compared to its competitors:
    • 30 day trade volume AUDTrade commission
      00.50%
      100,0000.48%
      150,0000.46%
      200,0000.44%
      250,0000.42%
      300,0000.40%
      350,0000.38%
      400,0000.36%
      450,0000.34%
      500,0000.32%
      600,0000.30%
      700,0000.28%
      800,0000.26%
      900,0000.24%
      1,000,0000.22%
      1,200,0000.20%
      1,600,0000.18%
      2,000,0000.16%
      2,500,0000.14%
      3,000,0000.12%
      4,000,0000.10%
      6,000,0000.08%
      10,000,0000.05%
      20,000,0000.02%

Cons

  • Only 16 cryptocurrencies are available for trade.
  • Independent Reserve charges fees for depositing fiat into your account.

Is Independent Reserve Safe?

In an interview with Forkast, Independent Reserve CEO  Adrian Przelozny stated that:

  • “To be one of the first cryptocurrency exchanges to be notified by MAS of our in-principle licencing approval is a reflection of the robustness of the policies, procedures and risk management systems that we have put in place to guide our day-to-day operations,”
  • “It provides certainty for us as industry participants and security for our customers, knowing that their chosen platform has passed the scrutiny of a world-class regulator. The granting of Digital Payment Token licences by MAS will continue to put Singapore in pole position as the leading financial hub in Asia.”
  • “In the interest of promoting consumer safety in the digital assets industry, areas of particular interest to MAS throughout the application process included customer protection mechanisms, transaction screening, robustness of IT services, compliance structures, and AML/CFT processes,”
  • “To achieve the licence, [virtual asset service providers] were required to put controls in place to ensure proper due diligence, suitable solicitation, and adequate risk disclosure.”

To be able to get MAS’s in-principle approval is no small feat.

In addition, the exchange has yet to be hacked or exploited since it was started in 2013.

This could be attributed to the exchange’s employment of high-security measures like two-factor authentication and cold wallet storage of most of its customers’ funds.

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Coinhako Review

Coinhako is a cryptocurrency exchange platform for consumers to buy, sell and secure their digital assets.

The company was founded back in 2014 by Singaporean entrepreneurs Yusho Liu and Gerry Eng and is headquartered in Singapore.

Their office is located at:

Far East Finance Building, 14 Robinson Road, #08-01A, Singapore, Singapore 048545

Pros

  • Can easily deposit and withdraw SGD using Xfers to your bank accounts.
  • Can trade 23 different cryptocurrencies (BTC, ETH, XRP, BCH, LTC, ADA, XLM, NEO, XMR, DOT & more)
  • Easy to use platform.
  • Singapore Dollar (SGD) and Vietnamese Đồng (VND) trading pairs cryptocurrencies.

Cons

  • Fees are higher than average (1.0% per trade)
  • Not as many cryptocurrencies compared to the bigger cryptocurrency exchanges.

Is Coinhako Safe?

You can read more about Conhako’s security features here.

Also, Coinhako has not been hacked before.

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Gemini Crypto Exchange Review

Gemini Trust Company, LLC (Gemini) was founded in 2014 by brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss of Facebook fame to build a bridge to the future of money.

The company is a next-generation cryptocurrency exchange and custodian that allows customers to buy, sell, and store digital assets such as BTC and ether.

Gemini is a New York trust company held to the highest level of fiduciary obligations, capital reserve requirements, and banking compliance standards.

Pros

  • Can easily deposit and withdraw SGD using FAST to your bank accounts. You can also deposit USD directly into your Gemini account too.
  • Can trade 63 cryptocurrencies (BTC, ETH, BCH, LTC, ZEC, ZRX, MKR, BAT, AAVE, FIL & more).
  • 10 FREE cryptocurrency withdrawals per month.
  • Easy to use platform.
  • Highly secure and regulated.
  • Gemini also has a lending platform and NFT marketplace.

Cons

  • Fees are higher than average (1.49% per trade for orders above S$250. There is also a minimum fee of up to S$4 for orders less than S$250):
    WEB ORDER AMOUNT - SGDTRANSACTION FEE¹ - SGD
    ≤ S$15.00S$1.50
    > S$15.00 but ≤ S$35.00S$2.00
    > S$35.00 but ≤ S$70.00S$2.75
    > S$70.00 but ≤ S$250.00S$4.00
    > S$250.001.49% of your Web/Mobile Order value

    But, you can opt for the Gemini ActiveTrader platform, which has lower fees (0.35% per trade).*
    30-DAY TRADING VOLUME IN (USD NOTIONAL)TAKER FEEMAKER FEEAUCTION FEE
    00.35%0.25%0.25%
    ≥ $500,0000.25%0.15%0.20%
    ≥ $2,500,0000.25%0.15%0.10%
    ≥ $5,000,0000.15%0.10%0.10%
    ≥ $10,000,0000.15%0.10%0.00%
    ≥ $15,000,0000.10%0.00%0.00%
    ≥ $50,000,0000.08%0.00%0.00%
    ≥ $100,000,0000.05%0.00%0.00%
    ≥ $250,000,0000.04%0.00%0.00%
    ≥ $500,000,0000.03%0.00%0.00%

*Do note that for the Gemini Active Trader platform, you can only buy BTC and ETH with SGD. This means that you will have to pay the transaction fee twice if you want to buy other cryptocurrencies with a BTC and ETH pair.

Is Gemini Safe?

Gemini claims that the majority of your cryptocurrency assets are held in their offline, air-gapped Cold Storage system, and only a small portion is held in their online Hot Wallet, which is insured.

You can read more about their security measures here.

Anecdotally, Beeple, the digital artist who sold his Non-Fungible Token (NFT) for US$69 million, was interviewed on The Daily Show With Trevor Noah. During the interview, he revealed that he was a Gemini customer.

Source: The Daily Show With Trevor Noah

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Coinbase Review

Coinbase was founded in San Francisco in 2012 by Brian Armstrong, a former Airbnb engineer. The company allows people and companies to buy and sell various digital currencies, including Bitcoin and Ether.

Coinbase now supports over 140 crypto assets for trading, and the total value of its assets under management represent around 11% of crypto assets’ total market capitalisation.

Pros

  • Easy to use and clean UI.
  • Trusted by US regulators as the company went through scrutiny under the traditional initial public offering (IPO) route to be listed on the NASDAQ.
  • Currently supports 140 plus cryptocurrencies.

Cons

  • High fees for trading (1.49%++) and payments.
  • But, you can also opt for Coinbase Pro, which has lower fees (from 0.50% per trade) as there are no fees for signing up or having a Coinbase Pro account and holding funds in your Coinbase Pro account.
    CoinBase Pro’s fees are determined based upon your total USD trading volume over the trailing 30 day period:
    Pricing TierTaker FeeMaker Fee
    $0 - 10K0.50%0.50%
    $10K - 50K0.35%0.35%
    $50K - 100K0.25%0.15%
    $100K - 1M0.20%0.10%
    $1M - 10M0.18%0.08%
    $10M - 20M0.18%0.08%
    $20M - 50M0.15%0.05%
    $50M - 100M0.15%0.05%
    $100M - 300M0.10%0.02%
    $300M - 500M0.08%0.00%
    $500M - 750M0.06%0.00%
    $750M - 1B0.05%0.00%
    $1B - 2B0.04%0.00%
    $2B +0.04%0.00%
  • Depositing or withdrawing fiat currencies into Coinbase can be pretty expensive due to the fees charged by Coinbase as well as the fees charged by your multicurrency bank account for transfers.
    • Bank Account: 1.49%
    • Coinbase USD Wallet: 1.49%
    • Debit/Credit Card: 3.99%
    • ACH Transfer: Free
    • Wire Transfer (SWIFT): US$10 (US$25 outgoing)
    • Crypto Conversion: 2.00%

Is Coinbase Safe?

For more on Coinbase’s security, you can read this independent review which states:

As most sources say, yes. – it has 40 different licenses to operate in 30 states of the US alone and can be used in many countries to send, receive or store funds.
To buy and sell features, though, Coinbase can be used only in 32 countries – you can consult the list here. – when talking about how safe is Coinbase, we must also mention that Coinbase stores the vast majority of the digital assets in secure offline storage and the cryptocurrency stored in their servers is covered by their insurance policy:
“Coinbase prioritizes the security of our customer’s funds, all digital currency that Coinbase holds online is insured. If Coinbase were to suffer a breach of its online storage, the insurance policy would payout to cover any customer funds lost as a result.”
Another important aspect is that Coinbase adheres to strict KYC (Know Your Customer) rules and closely respects them. It also cannot be used anonymously – “due to the KYC rules, users must submit a government-issued piece of ID and, in some cases, address verification in order to use the platforms BUY and SELL features.”

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Holding and Annual Spending Limits

Also, as part of the Payment Services Act, MAS has implemented holding and annual spend limits for e-wallets/personal payment accounts that you have to note.

From 22 Jan 2020, any payment institutions operating in Singapore that provide account issuance services must ensure that the e‑money stored or transferred in and out of personal e-wallets does not exceed the holding and annual spend limits of S$5,000 and S$30,000.

This annual limit starts from your first transaction at these payment institutions after 22 Jan 2020 and refreshes on a 365-day rolling basis.

An example of this would be payments platform Xfers, which provides payment solutions for cryptocurrency providers.

Source: Xfers

First, there is a holding limit of S$5,000 (Digital Goods Wallet + General Wallet) for your Xfers account.

Any amount above the holding limit will be placed in your temporary holding balance.

Also, you can only withdraw the temporary holding balance to the bank account you have linked with Xfers.

Let’s say you have a balance of S$4,000 in your Xfers account. You can only deposit S$1,000 more into your Xfers account.

In addition, there is an annual spend limit of S$30,000 and a daily withdrawal limit of S$10,000.

But, do check with your respective exchanges as the withdrawal limit policy varies between exchanges.

This means you can only top up S$30,000 over 365 days to your Xfers wallet.

You can only withdraw the temporary holding balance to the bank account you have linked with Xfers.

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About Joel Koh
History student turned writer at Seedly. Before you ask, not a teacher. I hope to help people make better financial decisions and not let money control them.
You can contribute your thoughts like Joel Koh here.

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