FILE PHOTO: Smartphone with displayed Binance logo and representation of cryptocurrencies are placed on keyboard in this illustration taken, November 8, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
(Reuters) -Binance's custody unit Ceffu said on Thursday it is planning to apply for a permit to offer payment services in Singapore, as the crypto exchange makes another attempt to function in the crypto-friendly city-state.
"Once the relevant amendments to the Payment Services Act go live and the application for a custody license opens, Ceffu will make its official application with the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore)," the unit's Vice President Athena Yu said in a statement to Reuters.
The unit, launched in 2021, was recently rebranded to Ceffu from Binance Custody.
Late last year U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase, Crypto.com and DBS Vickers - brokerage run by Singapore's largest bank DBS - received similar approval from the central bank to offer payment services in the country.
Binance has earlier faced challenges in Singapore. Its affiliate Binance Asia Services withdrew a local license application in December 2021 without giving a reason beyond "strategic, commercial and developmental" considerations.
(Reporting by Nilutpal Timsina, Mrinmay Dey and Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Eileen Soreng)
