Singapore suspends crypto exchange

Singapore has suspended the operations of cryptocurrency exchange Bitget after a crypto pension fund was alleged to have been set up in the name of South Korean boy band BTS without their knowledge.

The exchange is alleged to have listed the Army Coin, which is a reference to BTS’s fans who are colloquially called the “BTS Army”.

The token was advertised as an opportunity for BTS members not to “have to worry about surviving but instead let them do what they desire to do”.

BTS’s agency Hybe has denied any association with the currency whose creators and owners are still anonymous.

However, the parties behind the currency are riding the current popularity of the band and looking for trigger-happy investors who could be misled to believe that BTS is looking to retire using what now appears to be a crypto pension fund.

BTS threatened legal action against Bitget in October, potentially prompting Singapore’s decision to take down the platform.

The country’s financial authority, MAS, allowed several prominent crypto companies to operate on its territory while changes to legislation are currently undergoing.

Singapore is committed to shaping itself as a focal point of crypto investment, which requires greater scrutiny of companies and only allowing reliable partners to operate.

Bitget was allowed to join the likes of Binance, Ripple and Coinbase back in July, but the exchange will now not be accessible.

Bitget has complied with MAS’ decision, removing the regulator’s logo from its website footer, usually used as a hallmark that a company has a legal permit to operate in a specific country.

The crypto exchange has also blocked users from Singapore. At the time of the removal, we understand Bitget argued that it had 1.5 million registered users from Singapore.

Bitget still claims to have licenses in Australia, Canada, and the US, as per information obtained from its website.

While Army Coin has come under fire at Bitget, the currency seems to have adopted another home, crypto exchange CoinTiger.

There seems to be very little information about Army Coin that is currently verifiable. Regulators have not taken any official stance against it, outside of Bitget’s suspension which may not be entirely related to Army Coin.

In the meantime, BTS’s complaint from October said that the currency’s creator would face legal action, but nothing is currently known about who sits behind the crypto, and BTS has not commented on who that might be.

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Written by Barney

Co-founder

Barney is co-founder of CryptoGamblingNews.com. When not at work he can usually be found behind a Nikon. He's won numerous international competitions for his photography and volunteers as a content creator for aid organisations in Africa.

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