Gemini secures Major Payment Institution license from Singapore regulator

The Monetary Authority of Singapore has granted a Major Payment Institution license to Gemini Digital Payments Singapore, Pte. Ltd., the local entity of the crypto exchange Gemini, clearing it to offer digital payment token services and cross-border money transfer services under the country's Payment Services Act.

The MPI license is one tier up from the in-principle approval Gemini's Singapore entity received in October 2024, and it removes the standard transaction-volume limits that apply to smaller-tier payment licenses in the city-state. Singapore customers were transitioned onto the newly licensed local entity in April 2025, ahead of Monday's full approval.

As a full MPI, Gemini is now subject to the more comprehensive regulatory regime that comes with the designation — including anti-money-laundering controls and technology risk-management standards the MAS applies to institution-level payment licensees, rather than the lighter-touch requirements that apply below that threshold.

Singapore has positioned itself as one of the more structured jurisdictions for crypto licensing in Asia, running payment-token activity through the same Payment Services Act framework that governs conventional money transfer, rather than through bespoke crypto-only rules. A full MPI license there is generally read as a marker of regulatory durability rather than a growth catalyst on its own — it says a firm has satisfied the compliance bar rather than that its Singapore volumes are about to change.

Gemini did not disclose transaction volumes or user numbers for its Singapore operation alongside the announcement, so the license's near-term commercial impact is not yet quantified by the company.