BitGo, a prominent crypto custody firm, has achieved a significant regulatory milestone in Singapore. The company announced via a post on the platform X (formerly Twitter) that it has received in-principle approval for a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license from Singapore’s Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
This in-principle approval grants BitGo the authority to operate provisionally while it awaits the issuance of a full license. With this status, BitGo is permitted to offer digital payment token services to its clientele in Singapore.
Under MAS regulations, entities holding an MPI license are not restricted by transactional limits, which are typically capped at 3 million Singapore dollars ($2.2 million) for any single payment service. Additionally, these institutions are exempt from the monthly transaction limit of 6 million SG$ ($4.4 million) applicable to multiple payment services, excluding e-money account issuance and money-changing services.
This development for BitGo follows its successful acquisition of a crypto custody license in Germany from the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) on Oct. 24, 2023. Prior to this, BitGo had been managing the storage of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, under BaFin’s transitional regime since 2019.
Singapore has also seen complete MPI licenses granted to other significant industry players like Coinbase, Crypto.com, and Ripple. The city-state continues to foster a regulatory environment that balances innovation-friendly policies with robust consumer protections and technological advancement without speculative excesses.
In another key move, in December 2023, Hashdex chose BitGo as the Bitcoin custodian for its application to launch a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the U.S., with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission expected to make a decision on the first spot BTC ETFs by Jan. 10.
BitGo’s growth trajectory was further bolstered in August 2023 when it secured $100 million in a Series C funding round, elevating its valuation to $1.75 billion. The company plans to utilize these funds for strategic acquisitions and to enhance its regulated custody wallet and infrastructure solutions.