Coinbase obtains Singapore’s Major Payment Institutions license

Coinbase, the largest U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange, announced on Sunday that it has received a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license from Singapore’s central bank, enabling the exchange to expand its digital payment token services in the country for institutional and retail investors.

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Fast Facts  

• Singapore’s MPI license permits institutions to offer payment services without adherence to the standard transaction volume. Typically, providers are constrained by a SG$3 million (US$2.2 million) limit for monthly transactions per service, and SG$6 million for multiple services, with a daily outstanding e-money cap of SG$5 million, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
• “The newly acquired license is not only a validation of Coinbase’s operations but also represents a promise and responsibility to the growing crypto and Web3 community in Singapore,” the exchange said in a blog post on Sunday.

• Coinbase received an in-principal approval to expand its digital asset services in the country last October. 

• Coinbase, a Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange, got regulatory approval to offer perpetual futures trading from the Bermuda Monetary Authority last Thursday. The company acquired an equity stake in Circle Internet Financial, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, at the end of August.

• Coinbase shares (COIN) rose 5.55% to US$79.25 during pre-market trading on Monday, as of 05:25 p.m. in Hong Kong.

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