Digital asset exchange DigiFT gets full MAS licence

DigiFT said it is also an MAS-recognised market operator. — The Straits Times

SINGAPORE: DigiFT, a decentralised exchange for digital assets, will now be able to issue security tokens, the activities of which will be overseen by Singapore rules.

The company said yesterday it had received a capital markets services (CMS) licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

A CMS licence allows the exchange to deal in capital markets products such as securities, or units in a collective investment scheme via tokens.

DigiFT said it is also an MAS-recognised market operator, which means that it will be able to operate an organised market for secondary trading of security tokens on the public blockchain.

The exchange is built on the Ethereum blockchain and offers secondary trading liquidity for security tokens, facilitated by an automatic market-making mechanism.

These tokens are backed by real-world assets such as bonds, equities and collective investment schemes or pooled investments.

It plans to introduce more diverse tokenised real-world assets and Web3 assets, now that it has a full CMS licence.

The trading platform also aims to expand the availability of its app across different regions, as well as enhance user experience with more user-friendly features.

Henry Zhang, the exchange’s founder and chief executive, said while this is an important milestone for the firm, the bigger story here is the growing significance of asset tokenisation in Singapore.

He said this moment underscores the broader move by Singapore to position itself as a more facilitative hub for aspects like tokenisation.

“Globally, there is a great opportunity for asset tokenisation and this development points to Singapore’s strategy of embracing tokenisation to cement its status as a global financial hub with a strong innovation agenda,” said Zhang.

DigiFT, set up in 2021, said it is the first and only decentralised exchange with an automatic market-making mechanism to be enrolled in the MAS fintech regulatory sandbox. — The Straits Times/ANN