Digital Trading Platform MetaComp Offers Clients Stablecoin-to-TradFi Security Path, Claiming Singapore First

SINGAPORE – MetaComp, a digital asset platform, said it is offering clients the ability to buy traditional securities such as money market funds and U.S. Treasury bills for stablecoins – which it converts to fiat – in a first for Singapore.

The firm has accepted stablecoins tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) from as many as 10 of its institutional and accredited investors, co-founder Bo Bai told CoinDesk in an interview Wednesday. The service kicked off last month and has already resulted in volumes of around $50 million. MetaComp is providing the service across Asia.

Stablecoins form the backbone of crypto trading. Tether is the most-traded cryptocurrency, with volume of $22.6 billion in the past 24 hours, more than bitcoin and ether – second and third placed respectively – combined, according to CoinMarketCap data. USDC is the fourth most traded, with $3.5 billion turnover.

“The industry needs a seamless platform that allows investors to allocate their assets smoothly between TradFi products such as money market funds and DeFi products such as bitcoin options," Bai said, using industry terms for traditional finance and decentralized finance. "Step by step we allow investors to harness the benefits of both TradFi and DeFi products.”

Stablecoins, whose value is pegged against a real world asset such as the U.S. dollar, will have applications in the broader financial market, Bai said, and MetaComp is building its business under the assumption that they will penetrate into the real economy.

To provide the service, MetaComp and parent company MetaVerse Green Exchange need to hold three licenses from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the country's central bank: Capital Markets Services Licence, Recognised Market Operator Licence and Major Payment Institution Licence.

"The three licenses together provide us the ability to provide the service, and as far as we know, we are the first to do so in Singapore," Bai said. "As a licensed platform with securities, custodial services and digital payment token licenses, MetaComp and its parent company are dedicated to establish such a platform, which we call Client Asset Management Platform, to enable such a smooth asset allocation denominated in both fiat and stablecoins."

The only other entity in Singapore that holds all three licenses is DBS Bank, said Bai. DBS' head of digital assets, Evy Theunis, told CoinDesk the bank has not yet begun offering this service to clients.

MetaComp declined to provide the names of the investors, citing client confidentiality.

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