The Singapore affiliate of South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit has obtained a Principal 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 company received in-principle approval from the regulator in October.
“Upbit Singapore is poised to become a nexus of institutional activities, leveraging Singapore’s strong regulatory framework and reputation as Asia’s leading financial center,” said Alex Kim, Founder and CEO of Upbit Singapore. From the statement On Monday.
“We will increase the list of available digital assets along with providing liquidity and institutional services that prioritize customer protection measures,” Raks Sondhi, chief operating officer of Upbit Singapore, said in response to a query from The Block.
Upbit Singapore’s parent company, Upbit APAC, also operates cryptocurrency trading platforms in Thailand and Indonesia, according to the statement.
In Korea, Upbit Exchange is said to account for approximately 48% of the total spot cryptocurrency trading volume. data From CoinMarketCap. According to data, it processed $4.2 billion worth of cryptocurrency transactions in the last 24 hours. It is one of the five officially licensed exchanges in Korea along with Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax.
Update: Comment from Upbit Singapore added.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet delivering news, research and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor in The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the cryptocurrency space. Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget is an anchor LP of Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to provide objective, impactful and timely information about the cryptocurrency industry. Below are our current financial disclosures.
© 2023 The Block. All rights reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not provided or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial or other advice.
About the author
Danny Park is The Block’s East Asia reporter, writing about topics including Web3 development and cryptocurrency regulation in the region. He previously worked as a reporter for Forkast.News, where he actively covered the fall of Terra-Luna and FTX. Based in Seoul, Danny previously produced written and video content for media companies in Korea, Hong Kong, and China. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Business Marketing from the University of Hong Kong.