Market News

(Bloomberg) -- Singapore’s approach to crypto became more conservative after the collapse of FTX but the island remains crypto friendly overall, said Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, chief executive of the Binance digital-asset exchange.

The Hong Kong crypto regime that took effect mid-year only allows a limited number of tokens for trading by retail investors, he said Thursday via video link at the Token2049 conference in Singapore.

Tighter regulations generally have prompted many traditional financial institutions to hold back on offering cash to crypto services and vice versa, he added. “But at the same we are seeing new ones coming up,” Zhao said.

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, and Zhao are the subject of intense regulatory scrutiny, emblematic of a clampdown on the digital-asset sector after a rout in the market last year that triggered major bankruptcies. 

The platform’s share of digital-asset trading has declined in 2023 amid the crackdown and the loss of some banking partners.

Zhao said Binance exceeded 150 million users a couple of months ago. “We are also seeing 200,000 to 300,000 to half-a-million active users on a weekly, monthly basis,” he added.

Binance.US said earlier this week that it’s eliminating about one third of its workforce, or more than 100 positions. That’s the second round of job cuts this year at the Miami-based firm as the company fields mounting legal and operational challenges.

(Updates with more from Zhao in the sixth paragraph.)