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BLOOMBERG In the shadow of Dubai's sail-shaped Burj Al Arab hotel, crypto executives rubbed shoulders with Emirati royals, Wall Street bankers and Instagram influencers. The festivities in late March were organised by Binance Holdings in its de facto home of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is fast becoming a global hub for digital currencies. Binance co-founder and chief executive officer Zhao Changpeng skipped the event as he recovered from Covid-19, but he was top of mind for partygoers who said they aspired to replicate his rapid ascent from software developer to one of the world's wealthiest people. Following his lead, many are flocking to the UAE, which he has called the "Wall Street of crypto". The euphoria even has local bankers, lawyers and big tech executives pondering career pivots of their own to cash in. "We see a lot of interest from employees in traditional financial institutions who want to work for us," Mr Richard Teng, the head of Midd

Kang Wan Chern, Assistant Business Editor, The Straits Times Coinhako, a Singapore cryptocurrency platform, received official approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Friday (May 6) to formally operate as a regulated provider of digital payment token services under the Singapore Payment Services Act. The Singapore startup was granted a major payment institution (MPI) licence, allowing it to provide payment services without being subject to specific thresholds. Coinhako provides investors, including retail investors, an exchange on which to buy and sell multiple cryptocurrencies using various payment methods including bank transfers and credit cards. It also offers a wallet which is designed to facilitate the storage, transaction and trading of a wide variety of cryptocurrencies for all Coinhako users. Last year, Coinhako reported a total trading volume of approximately $7 billion, representing an increase of 1,200 per cent from the previous year. It also reported a 52