BitGo secures major payment license from Singapore’s MAS

California-based digital asset trust and security company BitGo has received a Major Payment Institution license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The company made the announcement on Aug. 8, stating that the MPI license allows it to offer regulated crypto payment services in Singapore, including custody and trading.

Following the approval, BitGo’s Singapore clients will be able to buy and sell crypto from the company’s cold storage custody solutions. Additionally, according to BitGo, the services will include access to its liquidity as well as insured cold storage custody solutions.

BitGo’s acquisition of the MPI license comes only days after HashKey Group’s over-the-counter trading subsidiary received similar approval from the Singapore regulator. It also comes about six months after BitGo obtained an initial in-principle approval as an MPI. 

The crypto custodian now joins 27 other digital asset companies, including Coinbase and Ripple (XRP), which have already secured full MPI licenses to offer crypto services in the city state.

Singapore has tried to build a strong regulatory framework for crypto, primarily overseen by MAS. They include the enactment of the Payment Services Act in 2019, as well as rules restricting digital payment providers from promoting their services to the general public. 

Crypto ownership in the tiny Asian country is one of the highest in the world. According to a recent report from global crypto payments provider Triple-A, more than 24% of Singaporeans owned some form of crypto. It puts the country only second to the United Arab Emirates in terms of crypto ownership, with 25.3% of the Middle-Eastern country’s citizenry holding crypto.

Per the report, the United States is much further behind, with only 15.5% of its population holding digital assets. However, unlike Singapore, crypto regulation in the U.S. is still not as clear cut, with the country’s regulator, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused of hampering the growth of the industry through its hard stance on crypto.