Upbit Singapore wins full digital asset license from MAS
Quick Take
- Upbit Singapore obtained a Major Payment Institution license after getting the in-principle permit in October.
- Upbit’s South Korean exchange processes nearly half of spot cryptocurrency transactions in the local market, according to CoinMarketCap data.
South Korean crypto exchange Upbit’s Singapore affiliate has acquired a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license from the city-state’s top financial regulator.
The license issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore comes less than three months after the entity received the in-principle approval from the regulator in October.
“Upbit Singapore is poised to be the nexus of institutional activities, capitalizing on Singapore's robust regulatory framework and its reputation as a leading financial center in Asia,” said the company’s founder and CEO Alex Kim in a statement on Monday.
“We will increase the list of digital assets available, along with liquidity and institutional service offerings with client protection measures kept at the forefront,” Raks Sondhi, chief operating officer of Upbit Singapore, said in a response to The Block’s enquiry.
Upbit Singapore’s parent company, Upbit APAC, also operates crypto trading platforms in Thailand and Indonesia, according to the statement.
In South Korea, Upbit exchange takes up around 48% of the total spot crypto trading volume, according to data from CoinMarketCap. It handled $4.2 billion worth of crypto transactions in the last 24 hours, the data showed. It is one of the five fully licensed exchanges in South Korea, along with Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax.
Update: Added comment from Upbit Singapore
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