The Monetary Authority of Singapore has granted a major payment institution [MPI] license to the leading web-based cryptocurrency wallet Blockchain.com. The permit now enables the exchange to “provide regulated digital payment token services to its global institutional and accredited investor customers.”
In accordance with the official notice, the payment platform was handed in-principle approval for the license last October. Besides providing a large, profitable trading hub, Singapore also serves as Blockchain.com’s Southeast Asia headquarters, it added.
Not long ago, San Francisco-based blockchain firm Ripple announced it had received in-principle regulatory approval to operate in Singapore. Given the firm’s legal tussle with the SEC back home in the United States, the timing of the development made it noteworthy.
The license has enabled Ripple to extend cross-border transfers of XRP, a cryptocurrency the company is intimately connected with, among its clients, which include banks and financial institutions, and to offer regulated digital payment token goods and services.
The MAS also granted Circle’s Singapore-based affiliate a license to operate as a Major Payment Institution. Circle Singapore opened its office in the city-state in May after receiving in-principle MPI permission from MAS in November.
Singapore has been named as Circle’s primary base in Asia, according to the statement. Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle, stated, “Singapore is integral to Circle’s global expansion.”
DBS Vickers, Digital Treasures Center, Fomo Pay, Independent Reserve, Metacomp, Paxos, Revolut, Sparrow Tech, and Crypto.com are some of the other companies that hold MPI licenses. According to reports, Gemini has also shown interest in growing in the city-state.
Singapore’s MAS Pools $150M For Web3 Development
The other day, the nation’s top regulator committed to investing up to $150 million over three years, with a ceiling of S$2 million per project, in creative FinTech solutions resulting from cutting-edge technology like Web 3.0.
As reported by TronWeekly, it is a part of the revised Financial Sector Technology and Innovation Scheme [FSTI 3.0], through which the central bank is ramping up its efforts to support a flourishing technology ecosystem for the financial sector while also speeding up and bolstering innovation by supporting initiatives that make use of emerging technologies with a regional focus.
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, and Chairman of MAS, Mr. Lawrence Wong, first unveiled FSTI 3.0 during the Singapore FinTech Festival in 2022.