Kenne Michael 
Upbit, South Korea’s largest exchange by volume, has been granted preliminary approval for a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license in Singapore.
Upbit Singapore announced on October 16 that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) approved its application for an in-principle license, enabling it to continue providing digital payment token services to institutional investors while it awaits its full license.
Raks Sondhi, chief operating officer of Upbit Singapore, told Cointelegraph that, with the approval, the company “will gradually come out stealth mode.”
“We have been here and operating in Singapore since 2018. We have been building out the team,” Sondhi said, adding that additional hires have been made.
“Our primary business has been on the digital asset exchange business; we will continue to build that out but also focus on the institutional segment and infrastructure projects,” said Sondhi. “There are also some other market segments we believe we can work well within.“
Compliance chief Azman Hamid stated that the approval demonstrates the company’s commitment to expanding its operations in Singapore. “We will contribute to further establish Singapore as the leading hub for the next generation of financial businesses,” he continued.
A potential complete approval for Upbit would allow the exchange to join the ranks of the 15 crypto firms that possess full MPI digital payment token serve licenses from the MAS.
In October alone, MAS granted licenses to the Singaporean entities of Coinbase, Ripple, and Sygnum Bank, bringing the total number of MAS-licensed digital payment token service providers to 15.
Coinbase received full approval for its MPI license on October 2, while GSR received approval in principle on the same day.
Sygnum Singapore, a subsidiary of Swiss crypto bank, received its complete MPI license the following day, while Ripple received its full MPI on October 4.