Crypto payment app Fincy exits sketchy Myanmar gambling hub

Myanmar’s sketchy online gambling hub has lost a Singapore-based fintech firm over concerns that it could be facilitating illegal cross-border payments for Chinese gamblers.

On Wednesday, Singapore-based crypto and fiat currency app Fincy announced that it was withdrawing from a ‘smart city’ development project in Shwe Kokko village in Myanmar’s southeastern Karen state, near the city of Myawaddy on the border with Thailand.

The project, known as Yatai New City, recently came under fire after its Chinese developers claimed to be part of China’s Belt & Road Initiative. China not only denied these reports but also said it supported the Myanmar government’s efforts to determine if the development is a hub for unauthorized casinos and China-facing online gambling sites.

Fincy, which is only about a year old, added cryptocurrency support in August, just weeks before reports surfaced of dodgy activity within Shwe Kokko. Fincy’s Wednesday statement noted reports that its app was accused of preventing Myanmar’s “law enforcement from tracking financial transactions” in Yatai.