Ripple Gains Approval from Singapore’s MAS to Broaden Payment Activities

• The approval supports Ripple’s regulation-first strategy and follows its recent licensing milestone in Abu Dhabi, allowing use of its native tokens – RLUSD and XRP.
• Demand for Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin continues to grow, with its market capitalization rising from $50 million to over $1 billion within a year.

Blockchain firm Ripple Labs is expanding its footprint in the Asian market by securing the Major Payment Institution (MPI) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), to expand payments in the country. As a result, the XRP parent firm could bring regulated payments in Singapore, and joins the list of other blockchain-based institutions with an MPI license.

Ripple Steps Into Singapore Market By Securing MPI License

Monica Long, President of Ripple, made an official announcementon December 1. She said MAS continues to set “a leading standard for regulatory clarity in digital assets.” Monica also added that the expanded license bolsters Ripple’s ability to invest further in Singapore and enhance the infrastructure needed for efficient global money movement.

Ripple said that it adopted the regulation-first approach as per Singapore’s clear and progressive digital asset policies. This approval highlights Ripple’s ability to provide its end-to-end Ripple Payments solution, which integrates digital payment tokens (DPTs) such as RLUSD and XRP.

This is the second major expansion by the blockchain firm within a week’s time. As reported by CNF, Ripple got license from Abu Dhabi’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) last week, for the legal recognition of its RLUSD stablecoin.

The Ripple Payments system offers financial institutions fast and transparent cross-border settlement without requiring them to build or manage blockchain infrastructure. It provides some key features like:

• Integrated Settlement Framework: Uses DPTs to settle transactions within minutes, reducing operational overhead for businesses.
• Single Onboarding Process: Replaces multiple intermediaries with a single, unified provider that manages the full payment flow—from collection and holding to swapping and payout.
• Simplified Digital Asset Access: Allows institutions to use DPTs without maintaining separate banking relationships or digital asset infrastructure.

Since 2017, Ripple has been operating its Asia-Pacific headquarters from the crypto-friendly nation of Singapore. “The Asia Pacific region leads the world in real digital asset usage, with on-chain activity up roughly 70% year-over-year. Singapore sits at the center of that growth,” said Fiona Murray, Ripple Vice President, Asia Pacific.

Growing Demand for Ripple

With the stablecoin market seeing solid growth over the past year, the XRP-parent firm has registered strong demand for its RLUSD stablecoin. Launched last year in December 2024, its market cap has surged by 20 times, from $50 million, to now over $1.0 billion, as mentioned in our previous story.

The compliance-focused design of RLUSD makes it attractive for institutions. Currently, it ransk as the 13th largest stablecoin by market cap. To break into the top five, the token would need to surpass MakerDAO’s DAI, which has a market cap of $4.42 billion.