Ripple attains Singapore license to offer digital payment token services

Ripple Markets APAC Pte Ltd., the Singapore subsidiary of San Francisco-based technology firm Ripple Labs, announced Wednesday that it has received a Major Payments Institution license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). 

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• The issuance of a Major Payments Institution (MPI) license under Singapore’s Payment Services Act allows Ripple to legally provide digital payment token services in the city-state. The company was granted an in-principle approval for the license in June. 

• There are 14 firms with MPI licenses from the MAS, including Circle, Paxos and Blockchain.com. Ripple is the second U.S.-based firm to receive the nod from Singapore’s central bank this week, as Coinbase, the largest U.S. exchange announced its license approval on Monday. 

• “Since establishing Singapore as our Asia Pacific headquarters in 2017, the country has been pivotal to Ripple’s global business,” Brad Garlinghouse, chief executive officer of Ripple, said in a statement.
• Ripple said over 90% of its business is outside of the U.S. and the Asia Pacific is one of its fastest-growing regions.

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