News linked to both this project and an event.
According to an official announcement, Robinhood has received in-principle approval (IPA) from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to launch brokerage services in Singapore, covering securities trading, exchange-traded derivatives, custody, product financing, and collective investment schemes. Robinhood stated that Singapore will serve as its Asia-Pacific headquarters to support its international expansion. Its subsidiary, Bitstamp Asia Pte. Ltd., already holds a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license issued by the MAS. Note that in-principle approval is not equivalent to a formal license; Robinhood Singapore Pte. Ltd. must still meet relevant conditions before receiving final approval to commence operations.
According to Caixin, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) released a consultation paper on April 17, 2026, proposing more accommodating regulatory capital guidelines for crypto assets on permissionless blockchains (i.e., public blockchains) ahead of implementing the Basel Committee’s new capital requirements for crypto assets. The current Basel framework is viewed as overly stringent in its classification of public blockchain-based assets, potentially stifling banking-sector innovation. MAS plans to abandon a “one-size-fits-all” classification approach and instead allow public blockchain-based crypto assets that meet a set of principle-based criteria to be classified as Group 1 crypto assets—carrying lower risk weights and less stringent prudential requirements—to achieve regulatory technology neutrality.