Singapore-led firm is on the MiCA register which is dominated by European and US-based entities
[SINGAPORE] Singapore-founded and led Paymonade has obtained a licence under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Regulation, which took full effect on Jul 1 this year. The licence, granted by Liechtenstein’s Financial Market Authority, allows the firm to provide regulated crypto-asset services across the 30-member European Economic Area (EEA).
In an announcement on Thursday (Jul 16), Paymonade said the approval is a milestone that roughly 90 per cent of Europe’s more than 3,000 crypto firms did not achieve by the Jul 1 deadline.
Paymonade is the trading name of Liechtenstein-based Damoon Technology (Europe), a regulated digital asset infrastructure provider serving payment providers, fintech firms and cryptocurrency exchanges that require euro and other fiat currency settlement services.
The company said it has an annualised transaction volume run rate of US$1.8 billion as at the first half of 2026, with some of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges among its customers.
Paymonade was founded and is led by Singaporean Calvin Cheng, a former nominated member of Parliament who currently serves as honorary consul of Serbia to Singapore. He is also a founding shareholder of online brokerage Longbridge Securities.
“The era of lightly regulated crypto is ending,” said Cheng, founder and chairman of Paymonade. “Getting this licence over the finish line, at a time when the vast majority of firms in our industry have not, shows the strength of the institution we have built.”
MiCA authorisation
Paymonade’s authorisation adds a Singapore-founded and led firm to a MiCA register that remains dominated by European and US-based entities. It is currently in active discussions with exchanges, fintech firms and banks seeking compliant European fiat infrastructure.
Paymonade plans to double its European headcount over the next 12 months as it onboards new institutional clients, and aims to increase annualised transaction volume to six billion Swiss francs (US$7.4 billion) per year by mid-2027.
The MiCA regime represents one of the most significant regulatory overhauls for the cryptocurrency industry in recent years.
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Following the close of MiCA’s transitional period on Jul 1, only 280 firms hold full EEA-wide authorisation, according to Paymonade. The company said many previously operating firms did not convert their registrations, either exiting the European market, restructuring their businesses or continuing operations without the required authorisation.
Paymonade added that an independent analysis of the public register indicates that only a small proportion of the world’s 100 largest cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume currently hold MiCA authorisation, with several major global exchanges still absent from the register as at Thursday.
For instance, crypto platform Binance will stop providing services to EU users starting Jul 1 because it failed to obtain an EU MiCA licence.
