The Monetary Authority of Singapore has given Sygnum in-principle clearance to undertake three new regulated activities under its CMS license.
Sygnum is a cryptocurrency and digital asset bank based in Switzerland and Singapore. It conducts banking in Switzerland and to provide capital market services in Singapore.
On March 8th, Sygnum stated that it had received authorisation from Singapore’s Monetary Authority to increase its service offerings. It operates under a capital markets license in the country and specializes in fund management for digital asset investments.
Furthermore, Sygnum will be able to use its existing tokenization after receiving complete authorization to undertake the extra activities. It will also have corporate finance capability to give asset managers who are inventive. At the same time, it fits in nicely with Web3 players in Singapore, who are looking for a fully regulated capital raising solution that covers the complete value chain.
Sygnum’s Expanded Services
Sygnum will be able to provide three additional services in the country as a result of the new approvals.
The first of these services is corporate finance consulting for businesses looking to raise financing. This includes the technological know-how required to tokenize capital markets and digital assets. It also covers legal and financial structure guidance for digital assets.
Dealing in capital market products would be the second service. This gives investors in Singapore access to a larger pool of accredited and institutional investors. Those looking for completely regulated tokenized capital market goods and digital assets to invest in.
Custodial services for asset and security tokens are the final service.
The group’s CEO and co-founder is Mathia Imbach. Professional investors today face a number of technological, regulatory, and portfolio hurdles, according to her. They are especially troubled when it comes to diversifying into cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, such as NFTs and the burgeoning metaverse.
Sygnum’s existing CMS license to undertake fund management expanded to include these additional regulated activities. The company was able to serve accredited and institutional investors in Singapore as a result of this. It has been diversifying its exposure to the digital asset market through its asset management solutions since 2019.
Picasso and CryptoPunk Tokenized
In Switzerland, Sygnum Bank now provides a tokenization platform. It enables customers to create tokens that reflect fractional ownership of digital assets. Traditional securities can also be recorded on the blockchain.
In July 2021, the company tokenized an original Picasso artwork called Fillette au béretn. They distributed 4000 tokens, each reflecting a portion of ownership in the CHF 4 million art pieces. Sygnum basically used blockchain to create “shares” in the artwork in the form of tokens, then sold to investors. More than 50 people have bought the painting.
In January 2022, Sygnum used its tokenization platform to share ownership of a CryptoPunk NFT in a similar way.
