SG crypto firm bags license for additional payment services

Cryptocurrency platform Hodlnaut has received approval from Singapore’s central bank for a major payment institution license, which will help the company provide payment services beyond certain thresholds.

Photo credit: Hodlnaut

With the new license, Hodlnaut can allow over S$3 million (US$2.2 million) in monthly transactions for payment services and US$4.4 million in monthly transactions for two or more payment services, excluding e-money account issuance and money-changing services.

The new license will also help the crypto firm hold S$3.7 million in daily outstanding e-money.

Founded in April 2019 by Juntao Zhu and Simon Lee, Hodlnaut is a Singapore-based platform for borrowing and lending cryptocurrency, allowing users to earn an interest of up to 12.73% on their cryptocurrencies by lending them to vetted institutions.

Hodlnaut currently offers two digital payment tokens (DPT) services. These are borrowing and lending services and token swap features. The Monetary Authority of Singapore will only regulate the platform’s token swap feature.

The firm said it will continue working through the conditions of its in-principle approval to meet the MAS requirements to receive its full license.

See also: How Polygon puts India at the heart of the crypto world

Update (March 16, 1.30 p.m. SGT): This article was updated to include a description of major payment institution license.

Currency converted from Singapore dollars to US dollars: US$1 = SG$1.36.