“Can a MAS-licensed crypto exchange become the dominant regulated on/off-ramp and digital asset platform for Southeast Asian retail and institutional investors?”
Founded in 2014 as one of Singapore's earliest retail crypto exchanges, Coinhako evolved from a basic Bitcoin buy/sell platform into a multi-asset trading and wallet platform serving retail, high-net-worth, and institutional clients across Southeast Asia. A key inflection point came in 2021 when it became the first non-bank crypto platform in Singapore to receive MAS in-principle approval under the Payment Services Act, unlocking regulated DPT and cross-border remittance services. The company layered embedded fiat wallet infrastructure via MatchMove and acquired SOC 2 certification to position itself as an institutional-grade venue. It now operates as a MAS-licensed Major Payment Institution with a focus on crypto on/off-ramp services.