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.
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.
Upbit Singapore did not immediately respond to The Block’s request for further comments.
