If you are a cryptocurrency trader or investor in Singapore, you are likely to find one Twins, which is christened as one of the top ten cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.
While the company was launched in New York in 2014 by the famous Winklevoss twins, Gemini set up a physical store here in Singapore in 2020.
Led by Jeremy Ng, the managing director of Gemini in Asia Pacific, Gemini Singapore has become a team of 30 in less than a year. The team is currently looking to hire more people to be part of the company.
The rapid growth of Gemini in Singapore is further evidence of the interest of the cryptocurrency industry in recent years. Similar to Coinhako i Tokocrypto previously, Gemini is a cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies easily.
Twins growth and focus
According to Jeremy, in late May, Gemini is one of Singapore’s largest fiat to cryptocurrency exchanges, based on official data from the Xfers payment gateway.
Xfers is one of the only payment gateways that Singapore locals can use to transfer their Singapore dollars to cryptocurrency exchanges to buy any cryptocurrency.
Claiming the number one exchange site is not an easy thing to do, especially since Gemini is one of 300 companies applying for a Singapore Monetary Authority (MAS) license to operate legally here.
To ensure that it maintains its leading position in the competitive cryptocurrency industry in Singapore, Gemini focuses on two target segment groups: retail customers, as well as institutional adoption.
While there is much room for improvement in terms of retail adoption in Singapore, Jeremy and the Gemini team are doubling their efforts to increase institutional adoption here.
“On the institutional side, this is something we are very focused on. We have hired a team of former institutional bankers to help grow the business and we have seen strong demand from institutions. We know they want to work with a partner who is properly regulated and who complies with local regulations, ”said Jeremy.
“We also want to be the number one player in the institutional space, because if we look at who the institutions can work with, that space becomes narrower because many don’t want to trade on unregulated stock exchanges.”
Crypto deals with regulations in Singapore
One of the many things we talked about with Jeremy was when it came to regulating cryptocurrency in Singapore.
Coming from the traditional financial background, in which Jeremy spent the last 20 years complying with the regulations, is an important factor in his decision to join Gemini.
In 2020, MAS passed the Payment Services Act (PSA) and it was during this time that cryptocurrency exchanges operating in Singapore realized that they needed to establish a store here in Singapore if they want to continue operating.
“Of all the exchanges, it seemed to me that Gemini was the closest fit to what I was looking for in the way it was set up; Gemini complies a lot with the regulations. The co-founders, Cameron and Tyler, take a long-term approach and want to create a company with a lot of security and high regulatory compliance, that fits my background, so it’s time to move to cryptographic, ”Jeremy told Vulcan Post.
In Singapore, along with 300 other companies competing for the official MAS cryptocurrency license, Gemini expects them to be the first batch of license recipients.
“We’ve had several interviews and correspondence with MAS and we’ve answered all of your questions,” Jeremy said.
“Our compliance director is Stanley Stanley and he was for five years the legal head of the global financial crime division of the investment bank in the Asia Pacific region, so we have a strong team to give a little of convenience to regulators “.
Jeremy also stressed that it all comes down to regulation in Singapore and expects the regulator to go in the right direction.
What we are seeing is that MAS is actively contacting industry agents. Temasek is actively investing and DBS has recently created its own digital asset exchange, so we know there will be a lot of tailwind that will drive the adoption of cryptocurrencies in Singapore.
– Jeremy Ng, CEO of Gemini APAC
In 2020, PSA came into force to regulate payments and cryptocurrency exchanges.
The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) has also published a new electronic tax guide for different types of digital tokens. Later, MAS also made the Securities and Futures Act (SFA) applicable to digital listing issues and launched a new guide to digital token offers.
“This gives guarantees to companies trying to establish a base here in Singapore and we come with a 100% commitment to grow the business here. For us, regulation is what will drive deeper adoption, be it adoption. retail or institutional, ”Jeremy shared with Vulcan Post.
What is hindering the adoption of cryptocurrencies in Singapore??
When asked about what prevents the adoption of more cryptocurrencies in Singapore, Jeremy said there are three key factors.
The first is the volatility of cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency as an asset class is still relatively young and with that there is some volatility. As the asset class matures, volatility will decrease and, in fact, the volatility of cryptocurrencies has decreased over the past five years.
The second thing would be the negative perception that some might have about cryptocurrencies.
Although we see such a large increase in institutional and consumer adoption, many people still have negative connotations with bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general.
Notorious and somewhat misleading holders of cryptography are making headlines. The average consumer can misunderstand them, causing misperception and general public feeling.
The third, and perhaps the biggest hurdle, would be the risk of scams involved in space. Not all exchanges are the same and not everyone follows the rules.
“That said, there has been an ever-increasing regulatory oversight, which I encourage and keep by my side. I think increased regulation will lead to greater stability and investor protection in the long run, ”Jeremy noted.
NFT, DeFi and the future of blockchain technology
For natives or fans of cryptocurrencies, it can be difficult to keep up with all the developments that are happening in the fast moving industry.
It is said that if one thinks that the technology industry is innovating too fast, the blockchain industry is moving ten times faster than that.
For Jeremy, the two most exciting developments in the cryptocurrency space now are the development of non-expendable tokens (NFTs) as well as the development of the decentralized finance space (DeFi).
Explaining the development of DeFi, Jeremy shared that, given his background in the traditional financial space, he knows how financial intermediaries generate revenue.
“In traditional finance, you need them (the bank) to act as intermediaries, but in the end, we depend entirely on a centralized platform. But with DeFi, we can build a new banking, commercial, or lending platform that is completely independent of any centralized body and therefore democratizes finances. And that’s a very exciting thing. “
“If you compare traditional finance and DeFi, it’s actually quite amazing. In 2008, we saw the fall of the traditional finance market. The financial system has been blocked and, as the system cannot handle the block, it had to be rescued. If there had been no financial bailout from the government in 2008, the whole financial system would have disappeared. ”
“At DeFi, though, look at the recent drop: there’s no default. It worked exactly the way it should, automated margin calls, leverage, nothing breaks; and that’s very powerful.” .
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Featured Image Credit: The Edge
