Upbit’s Singapore branch, affiliated with South Korea’s largest exchange by trading volume, has received preliminary approval for a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license in Singapore.
On October 16th, Upbit Singapore announced that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) had granted them an in-principle license, allowing them to provide digital payment token services to institutional investors while they await the full license.
Alex Kim, the founder and CEO of Upbit Singapore, expressed that although the company was established in 2018, this recent approval is a significant strategic milestone in enhancing its local presence.
Azman Hamid, the company’s compliance chief, stated that this approval demonstrates their dedication to expanding their operations in Singapore, with the goal of contributing to the city-state’s reputation as a prominent hub for the next generation of financial enterprises.
Should Upbit secure the full approval, it will become one of the 15 crypto firms holding a complete MPI digital payment token service license from MAS.
In the same month, Singapore-based entities of Coinbase, Ripple, and Sygnum Bank also received license approvals from MAS, bringing the total number of MAS-licensed digital payment token service providers to 15.
Coinbase obtained its full MPI license approval on October 2nd, and on the same day, crypto trading firm GSR received in-principle approval for its MPI license. A day later, Swiss crypto bank subsidiary Sygnum Singapore was granted a full MPI license, and Ripple secured its full MPI license on October 4th.