Independent Reserve has received a principle approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to operate. The company said it is one of the very first digital asset service providers to receive a license in Singapore. CEO Adrian Prelozny said this shows that their services are very safe.

"Being one of the first crypto exchanges to receive notice from MAS is a reflection of the robustness of the policies, procedures, and risk management systems that we have implemented for our day-to-day operations," Prelozny said.

Meanwhile, Singapore Senior Minister and Monetary Authority Chairman Tharman Shanmugaratnam disclosed that several candidates are still in the final stages of consideration.

Since the implementation of the Payment Services Law in January 2020, about 170 applicants have applied for the provision of digital payment token services. 30 applications were withdrawn since then, 2 were rejected and about 90 service providers are not licensed.

MAS said the applicants will be subject to rigorous scrutiny through the licensing process.

Founded in Australia in 2013, Independent Reserve launched its international expansion plans in late 2019, opening its first overseas operations in Singapore to provide digital asset exchange and OTC trading services to people and institutions in the country.