Smart Millennial Series #6 How to buy Bitcoin and other crypto currencies in Singapore?

For Singapore investors, I suggest checking out either Binance SG, or Coinhako.

If you have a US/European bank account, Coinbase is worth checking out too.

But as a Singapore investor funding in SGD, Coinbase is too much hassle because you can’t withdraw SGD from them.

You will need to transfer the coin to either Binance/Coinhako to withdraw the SGD, in which case you might as well just use them to begin with.

Difference between Binance SG or Coinhako:

Coinhako

Coinhako is a Singapore homegrown company.

Use Coinhako if you want something simple and fuss free, and you’re ok with limited optionality.

Use Binance SG if you don’t mind a bit more hassle, and you want a more powerful underlying exchange with cheaper fees.

The big benefit with using Coinhako, is that they support direct deposit and withdrawal to a Singapore bank account.

There is no need to link your Xfers account.

So you can transfer SGD in via FAST transfer, and transfer it out the same way ($2 fee for withdrawal), which is just super convenient.

The problem with Coinhako though, is that because it’s not as big as Binance, the underlying architecture isn’t as stable.

So sometimes when the transaction volume is very high (like right now with the crypto rage), there may be limits on the amount you can buy, delays on withdrawals etc.

Coinhako’s platform was down for almost one trading day recently, so things like that do happen.

Binance

Binance is founded by a China guy, but their servers are no longer located in China because of China’s crypto ban.

Today, Binance is the largest exchange in the world in terms of trading volume, and it is very reputable, very popular, and very good.

There are 2 versions of Binance – Binance.com for international investors, and Binance.sg for Singapore investors.

The main problem with Binance SG for Singapore Investors, is that they don’t accept SGD deposits directly.You need to create an Xfers account, and then use Xfers to top up / withdraw SGD from Binance SG.

This is a bit of a hassle, and you’ll also need to maintain the Xfers account and KYC verification.

But once you get through this step – Binance SG is amazing because the underlying exchange is Binance.This means great liquidity, great spot prices (and spread), and very stable underlying architecture.

Binance.com

The other drawback is that Binance SG only supports 8 coins, which is much lesser than Coinhako – which has 14.

There is also a $30,000 limit annually due to MAS regulations

If you want to get around these restrictions, you can use Binance.com, and fund via SGD.